Glasgow City: No let-up after 13th title in a row
- Published
Glasgow City have sealed a record 13th successive title, their continued dominance of the Scottish Women's Premier League highlighted by the 10-0 hammering of top-flight debutants Motherwell to clinch their latest trophy.
Celtic, Rangers, Hibernian and Hearts in particular have all recently voiced their intention to plough more into their respective women's teams to provide a greater future challenge.
But, for yet another season, the independent club formed in 1998 by players Laura Montgomery and Carol Anne Stewart continue to be the benchmark in the Scottish game.
Despite not being associated with a senior men's team and losing their top players continually to professional outfits in England and further afield, City continue to defy the odds, while regularly providing players for the Scotland's national squad.
But what about their latest league triumph, and what next? Here, BBC Scotland puts it into context.
How City won the league
Even by their own high standards, City's title triumph this season has been impressively comprehensive.
Booth's 'Invincibles' have won all 18 games so far, scoring 91 goals - an average of five per match - and conceding just six.
Hibernian, runners-up for the fifth campaign in a row, simply have not been able to live with the scorching pace.
City began the league season with a 7-1 drubbing of Spartans and have not let up since, netting five or more goals a further nine times and never conceding more than one goal to any side.
However, it was the less-than-glamorous surroundings of a public park at Wishaw Sports Centre that provided the setting for their title-clinching match over Motherwell, a venue that was criticised by midfielder Hayley Lauder.
Hibs are City's cup Achilles heel
The meetings with Hibs have been far tighter and pivotal to the destination of the title. City edged out Grant Scott's team 1-0 away and 2-1 at home either side of the mid-season break to open a gap they never relinquished.
Hibs, who only dropped four points outside of those games, remain without a league victory over City since 2007, although they are Glasgow's bogey team in knockout competitions.
The Edinburgh side's shootout win over Booth's team in the SWPL Cup in May means they have won the last seven domestic cups, beating City each time on their path to success.
And the domestic heavyweights go head to head again in the Scottish Cup final on 24 November, with City bidding to end Hibs' three-year reign as holders.
Glasgow have also balanced their title triumph with a Champions League run, their 2-0 first-leg win away to Brondby putting the Scots on track to reach the quarter-finals for just the second time in their history.
Dominant City have a way to go
No other Scottish team in the men or women's game has won more than nine titles in a row, never mind the 13 that City now have. And, while they have equalled French champions Lyon's haul of consecutive titles, they are still playing catch-up with other clubs in Europe.
SFK 2000 Sarajevo are attempting to claim their 18th successive Bosnian title. And they would not even be the first team to do so, with Faroe Islands' Klaksvik managing that feat in 2016.