Rangers v Motherwell: Women's Scottish Cup semi-finals make Hampden debut

History beckons at Hampden Park this weekend as the semi-finals of the Women's Scottish Cup are held at the national stadium for the first time, with Motherwell and Rangers first to take the the pitch.

Paul Brownlie's side are bidding to get back to the final after their 2018 appearance, while Malky Thomson's team are looking to make the final for the first time since 2010.

Whoever wins will take part in the first domestic final of the women's game to be played at Hampden on 28 May, 2023 - an opportunity some are still pinching themselves at.

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'Where the game has gone, it's amazing'

Captain Gill Inglis led her side out at Fir Park on Tuesday as Motherwell beat Glasgow Women 4-0 in their first win at the home of the men's side - ideal preparation for Saturday.

"When I started playing football, I could never think that the semi-finals of the Women's Scottish Cup would be held at Hampden. To see where the game has gone from where I first started is amazing," said the 32-year-old.

For many of her Motherwell team-mates, this will be their first - and perhaps one of few - run-outs at Hampden, with the bottom-six side not boasting any current first-team internationals, unlike the three other semi-finalists.

"Being here on Monday was definitely good preparation, it allowed us to look around and appreciate it a wee bit more but come Saturday, our game faces will definitely be on as we play the game and not the occasion."

Brownlie's side may be in the bottom half but they are unbeaten in their past seven games in all competitions. An impressive calendar year so far has included a draw against Scottish Cup holders Celtic, who meet Glasgow City in Sunday's semi-final.

"These players have the mindset and they train like professional players, the volume that they train at is probably just as much as what the full-time teams do," Brownlie said.

"Last Christmas we gave them two weeks off and it took us a wee bit time to get going. This year we changed that, we never gave them that break and it's paid dividends in the run of results since the turn of the year."

Rangers aim to continue trophy success

Any suggestion that Rangers were out of the race in their title defence was quashed on Wednesday as their added-time winner pegged leaders Glasgow City back, again. City also lost their previous league game to Celtic.

Not bad preparation for a Scottish Cup semi-final as the quest for the domestic treble continues. Thomson's side secured the League Cup in December by defeating Hibernian.

The national stadium is familiar to many internationals in Rangers' side. Regulars such as Nicola Docherty, Rachel McLauchlan and Sam Kerr can share their experiences, while 17-year-old Emma Watson made Hampden seem like home on her senior Scotland debut a matter of weeks ago.

"She feels pretty comfortable so hopefully the rest of team will feel like that," said Rangers' Tessel Middag of Watson.

Thomson's reigning SWPL champions' driving motivation is the feeling of success they have become accustomed to in the past 12 months.

"Malky said to us, 'remember that feeling you had after winning the trophy'," Netherlands international Middag added.

"Celebrating together, dancing in the changing room - those are the moments that you play for so to be able to try and repeat that spurs us on."

The Scottish Cup is the one trophy Thomson has yet to deliver at Rangers and it is a new and improved gong this year - the same size as the men's equivalent.

"It's a big trophy, I'll need to do some upper body weights to be able to lift it," said Middag.

And Thomson added: "We've not managed to win this one yet, but if they need a hand eventually lifting it, I'm sure they'll have my help in picking it up."