Scottish Women's Football

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland at Hampden Park

Image source, SNS

Melissa Andreatta wasn't for letting a little bit of jet-lag get in the way of disturbing her first free week in Scotland before heading to Hampden on Monday morning.

The Australian made the 30-hour flight last week with her family and got immediately stuck into Scottish culture before officially beginning her new role as national team head coach.

Even at this early stage, she believes its a country that "really aligns" with her values.

"Hard working, no nonsense, straight talking, humble, honest, I'm all about that as well," the new head coach said. "Some things just turn up when they do and this opportunity is one of those. It arose and I went for it.

"I'm so honoured to have been given the opportunity to lead the team and I'm going to take it with both hands and run with it."

The 46-year-old also expressed excitement at working with a squad she got a front-row viewing of when Scotland faced Australia in London in 2023 and taking an even "deeper dive" with them in the coming weeks.

Andreatta, whose first game in charge is against Austria later this month, added: "I've been watching previous games, obviously I'm familiar with the players because in my previous role I was exposed to them as well.

"Watching the games myself, I'm still working through that process, it's early days but I'll be diving into that deeply in the coming days to make sure I have a good grasp of things ahead of the next window.

"I think the centre of the park is a strength for the Scottish. The midfield, when we talk about players there, I think the experience and the level that we see players playing at club level is high."

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Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland at Hampden Park

Image source, SNS

Melissa Andreatta has addressed the media for the first time since being named the new Scotland head coach.

Here are the key points:

• "Honoured" Andreatta "jumped at the opportunity" to become the new head coach, adding: "Who wouldn't?"

• Her brief has been "all about major tournament qualification" and she is "confident about the process and progress" of getting back to the top table, adding "anything is possible".

• The Australian believes Scotland "aligns with her values of working hard, no nonsense, straight talking, being humble and honest".

• Andreatta has had "initial discussions" about the make-up of her staff though she "definitely plans to lean on the fantastic backroom team already here".

• She spoke with Glasgow-born Australia interim head coach Tom Sermanni and veteran Scottish/Australian coach Ernie Merrick before making the move.

• Andreatta knows the words to national anthem 'Flower of Scotland' and finds it stirring.

Image source, PFA Scotland

"Shocked" Grant Scott was "incredibly humbled" to be voted PFA Scotland SWPL manager of the year after the Hibernian head coach was chosen by his peers.

He has already guided Hibs to a League Cup final this term and they sit top of the SWPL with three games left.

Should they remain there come 18 May - the final day of the season - it would be the club's first title win since 2007, which Scott says would be "a huge, huge thing".

"We haven't won it yet, there's a lot of work to do, strange as that is since there's three games to go but we've got very, very difficult opponents to play," Scott said.

"But, we'll continue to push. If, and it's a massive big if because of the seriousness of the competition out there, but if we were to manage to be successful, it would be absolutely huge in the new era of Scottish women's football, where the teams are properly professional.

"It would be a huge, huge thing for Hibernian."

Such is the enormity of their potential success, Scott received the recognition from his fellow managers.

"It's quite humbling that you put your wits against each other week to week, season on season, and for them to recognise that we've done a good job," he added.

"It's not all about me, it's the whole function that goes on behind the team, so I'm delighted to get that recognition from your peers."

Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Lee Gibson (Glasgow City): At 0-0, the Scotland international made a terrific save to deny an almost-certain Celtic goal. Handled everything that came her way calmly.

Lauren Doran-Barr (Hibernian): So comfortable breaking forward and trying to initiate attacks. Her lofted ball over the top was inch-perfect for as she set up Hibs' second goal in the derby victory over Hearts.

Megan Burns (Dundee United): Scored a couple of goals helping United to only their second win of the season. The defender showed desire despite United's season effectively being over with relegation confirmed.

Samantha van Diemen (Glasgow City): The ever-impressive defender was busy at the back for City. Made some vital challenges and blocks and clearances to help her side to a vital win against Celtic.

Cassie Cowper (Montrose): Played a key role in what could be a significant win for her side. Made a vital goalline clearance at 1-1, set up the winner, then produced a great block to prevent Spartans grabbing an equaliser.

Louise Brown (Montrose): Scored the winning goal for Montrose, and what a big goal it could prove to be as they continue the fight to climb out of the third relegation spot.

Kirsty Maclean (Rangers): Very influential for Jo Potter's side as she controlled the play. Set up Rangers' fifth goal as they returned to winnings ways against Motherwell.

Tegan Bowie (Hibernian): Worked tirelessly out wide, beating players to create and set up attacks for Hibs. Could have been among the goals, while her assist for their openinger was brilliant.

Kathleen McGovern (Hibernian): Her goalscoring form continues. The forward was alert and brave at both her goals, helping Hibs remain at the top of the SWPL.

Katie Wilkinson (Rangers): Another hat-trick as the English striker proved ruthless once again for Rangers. Five goals in all for her at the weekend, and it could have been more.

Nicole Kozlova (Glasgow City): Scored two crucial goals for City. Her first was the most impressive as she raced down the left and somehow scored from a tight angle.

Watch the best of Sunday's action in the top six of the SWPL, including a derby victory for leaders Hibernian and important wins for title-chasing Glasgow City and Rangers.

Watch the best of Sunday's action in the bottom six of the SWPL, including important wins for Aberdeen and Montrose, as well as a rare victory for bottom side Dundee United.

Image source, PFA Scotland

A move to full-time football with Celtic. Champions League debut. Scotland call-up. First Scotland goal. And now a PFA Scotland SWPL player of the year award.

Emma Lawton knows it's going to be tricky to top her last 12 months.

Since signing for the reigning champions in September from part-time Partick Thistle, the 23-year-old has been on a rollercoaster ride.

A shining bright light in an otherwise disappointing campaign for Elena Sadiku's side, the right-back's stellar season was recognised by her peers as she beat off Hibernian forward Eilidh Adams, Rangers striker Katie Wilkinson and Glasgow City defender Samantha van Diemen.

"It's a real honour when it's voted by the people you play against every week, it's special," the Scotland international said.

"It's just been mad but I've absolutely loved every minute of it," she said of her first season in full-time football.

"I think it's going to be really hard to live up to these12 months, but I'll just keep working hard and just see what my footballing career brings."

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Glasgow City head coach Leanne Ross: "Three-game weeks are difficult for the players, but they've went and carried out the game-plan with so much energy.

"All we can do is focus on the next game, which we've tried to do all season. It's really tight at the top, things can still change a lot so we just need to recover and focus.

"We can't look too far ahead, we just have to play Hibs. We're in a good position."

Celtic head coach Elena Sadiku: "It's not a 3-1 game, it never was, but it's kind of the story of our season. We can dominate and create chances and then we're not switched on and they score, even when they haven't been in the game.

"We need to fight for top three. We need to be there, but it's going to be hard.

"We're not going to win the league now, but we need to learn that being a champion brings more pressure."

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Hearts manager Eva Olid: "They deserved the win, they showed more character than us and wanted it more than us.

"The message was to keep the ball because they were creating chances from our mistakes. We tried, but we have to be better."

Hibernian head coach Grant Scott: "That's an important three points for us. We've been discussing in-house about being professional, turning up and putting in a performance so I'm delighted to come here to a tough place and do that.

"We know we're at the really important stage of the season now and winning is everything."

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Rangers manager Jo Potter: "I asked the players to step up and out and give a better performance than we have done. We needed that one today and we've got to use that to kick on.

"We've got to try and win every single game we go into and we've got to keep the pressure on and keep pushing until the last second."

Motherwell head coach Paul Brownlie: "I don't think it was a 6-0 game so I'm disappointed with the result. It's been a really intense week for the players - a Scottish Cup semi-final then a midweek game at Hibs - it was difficult, but we asked them to give us everything and they did that."

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Aberdeen manager Scott Booth: "It was extremely messy. We want to play good football but at this stage of the season, the points are more important and I'm glad we could see it out after a tough couple of weeks.

"The wind didn't help the game for either side."

Partick Thistle assistant coach Ross Stormonth: "We struggled today, we didn't have a shot on goal or create much - it was a poor game our end.

"It was probably a poor game for the spectator. We want to finish the season strong, hopefully today was just a blip."

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Montrose manager Craig Feroz: "It was a battle, as we'd expect, Spartans are a good side, but I thought overall we deserved the win.

"It's been seven cup finals, we've got three to go. It's not in our hands, we just need to keep winning to try and stay in this league."

Spartans head coach Jack Beesley: "It was a tight game, but we can't have any complaints with the outcome.

"You can't concede those goals at any level. It was really disappointing and a poor day at the office."

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Queen's Park head coach Iain Robinson: "I thought we were pretty poor, the goals we conceded, we knew they'd be a threat from set pieces.

"The quality in our action wasn't there today. They carried out their plan better than us and wanted it more."

Dundee United head coach Suzy Shepherd: "Overall, I thought it was a really good performance, we dominated from start to finish and could have been seven or eight for us.

"We played some really nice football and I'm really pleased for the girls because they deserved that today."

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Celtic right-back Emma Lawton is the SWPL player of the year, with Hibernian's Grant Scott collecting the manager's prize at the PFA Scotland awards ceremony.

Hibs are the surprise league leaders after 29 games, having lost just three times.

Lawton, 23, has impressed in her first full season at Celtic and has broken into the Scotland team in 2025, playing in all four Nations League group games.

Rangers forward Laura Berry won the young player of the year, with the 17-year-old shining on her return to the club after spending the first half of the season on loan at Motherwell.