SWPL: How Glasgow City proved doubters wrong to win 14th straight title

With the financial backing of both Celtic and Rangers, the 2020-21 campaign was supposed to be the season Glasgow City were finally dethroned in the Scottish Women's Premier League.

Both Old Firm clubs became full-time sides at the start of the term, giving them significant spending power and putting City's dominance under threat.

However, Scott Booth's side proved the doubters wrong to claim a 14th successive SWPL title on a dramatic final day.

But how did they do it? BBC Scotland has a look...

Relentless City

The campaign kicked off with a mouth-watering clash between City and Celtic, two sides who were tipped to be challenging for the title.

But Booth's side set their intentions early, securing a 2-0 victory to start their season in relentless fashion.

Five successive wins would follow for City, but any fears over the threat to their domestic dominance were heightened after a 5-0 humbling to the hands of title hopefuls Rangers.

However, Booth's side responded impeccably to what turned out to be their only league defeat of the season by going the remainder of the campaign unbeaten - gaining a staggering 40 points from 42 on offer.

The key games

If either of the Old Firm sides have any hope of claiming the title from City next season, they will have to improve in the vital head-to-head encounters between the top three clubs.

City, Celtic and Rangers lost a total of eight games combined across the 2020-21 campaign, with all of them coming in meetings between the sides.

While the Old Firm clubs may have the financial backing to threaten City, Booth's side showed their experience and title-winning nous across the encounters.

Despite the 5-0 defeat by Rangers, City finished the campaign with 13 points from their six clashes with both Old Firm sides, which proved vital as Celtic claimed 10 points from theirs while Rangers registered just three.

What's next? - 'we aim to be full-time very soon'

Glasgow City co-founder Carole Ann Stewart

Personally, it's magnificent. I'm so proud of everybody involved with this club. It's been a particularly hard season with Covid and there being several changes to the team, but it's unbelievable to win the title again this year.

An infinite amount of work keeps this club going behind the scenes. You know [Glasgow City chief executive] Laura Montgomery, she's a force to be reckoned with when running this club.

We've both got high ambitions for the club and we're not anywhere near what we want to do in terms of the professionalism of the club. We're not full-time yet, but we aim to be that very soon."

Glasgow City midfielder Jo Love

It's so good. It's been a nervous couple of weeks, months, even years you could say. There's been a lot of pressure on us, but it's a big sigh of relief to get it done.

We'll keep trying to bat back all those that challenge us. We'll see what next season brings and we'll try to keep everyone below us.