Celtic and Rangers will bring greater competition to SWPL, says Hayley Lauder
Monday 17 February 2020 17:01, UK
Celtic and Rangers turning fully professional is a positive and will bring greater competition to the SWPL, according to Glasgow City's Hayley Lauder.
The two Old Firm giants have invested heavily on and off the pitch ahead of the start of the 2020 season which begins later this week.
But despite the potential threat posed to Glasgow City's own dominance, with City winning each of the last 13 SWPL titles, Lauder insists it represents progress for the Scottish game.
"For the good of the game in Scotland, I think it's good," Lauder said speaking at the Scottish Women's Premier League launch event.
"It creates a buzz around the game, more media interest and it is bringing better resources.
"Being a Glasgow City player, we've done that for many years. We've led the way so I think it's good that other teams are catching on."
The 29-year-old does, however, think that Celtic and Rangers will be keen to see a return on that investment which will bring the kind of pressure that Glasgow City have been accustomed to over many seasons.
She said: "They are two massive sides so that brings with it a lot of interest but it also brings pressure. They are probably expecting a return and to win things.
"For Glasgow City, everyone is waiting on us to fall and you deal with that every year. That is something these teams will have to face at some point."
Those sentiments were echoed by her head coach, Scott Booth, who also added that while Celtic and Rangers' investments will improve the league's standards, Glasgow City have already faced competition in previous seasons.
For Booth, he is insistent the club's model won't change because they will continue to focus on providing opportunities exclusively for girls and women.
He said: "There's been a lot of competition over the last five years that I've been at the club. It's never been as easy as it may look from the outside. Now the competition is going to be deeper.
"Obviously they have massive clout in terms of finances but we as a club have been successful because we continually focus on ourselves. We're a unique club because we support girls and women only. We will continue to keep doing that."
Glasgow City's focus will also include their upcoming Champions League quarter-final clash with Wolfsburg in March, fresh from winning the league and Scottish Cup double last term.
Retaining the senior core of the side, they've also added former Hibernian boss Grant Scott as Booth's assistant.
Celtic and Rangers, meanwhile, are embarking on a new journey as fully professional sides.
Rangers' Emma Brownlie is confident they will benefit from the investment and insists the move to become fully professional will have the biggest benefit on girls aspiring to have careers in the game.
And rather than being overwhelmed by the pressure, she believes her teammates will simply view it as a great opportunity to show what they can do.
"I think from the outside there's that expectation, but for us it's just a great opportunity," Brownlie said.
"We've been given a fantastic backing by the club, they've been extremely welcoming to us and really integrated us into the club.
"The big thing for us is now the young girls are coming up through the ranks in Scotland, they have that goal that they can go and play professionally in their own country which is great."
For Celtic, the talk of turning professional has been exciting enough. Just ask new arrival Jodie Bartle.
The defender swapped life as a secondary school PE teacher and part-time football at second tier Coventry United for a shot at the SWPL and a professional contract.
She describes the journey as 'unreal' and believes it's the perfect time to test herself in the Scottish game with new investment heralding lots of exciting opportunities for players like herself.
"It's incredibly exciting, we can achieve a lot," Bartle said.
"The league is going to be a lot more competitive now this season because of the investment. It's a great time to also come up here as well.
"I was offered my first professional contract so I was never going to say no to that. I've come from tier two in English football and it's given me the opportunity to come and play in tier one in Scotland which is just so exciting."
Bartle also recalled how the move to Celtic materialised so quickly.
She said: "I had a phone call from Coventry on the Monday saying we've been approached, I then had Celtic call me that evening, I had a contract through on Tuesday, I had a meeting with my head teacher on Wednesday and my last day at school was on Friday."
However, all the talk of the Old Firm's step up to the professional ranks has perhaps left Hibs feeling as if they've become outsiders overnight.
In the recent past, Hibs have been Glasgow City's biggest challengers, and they're not about to give up their ambition of usurping City at the top of the SWPL.
Hibernian's Amy Muir sees nothing but positives from Rangers and Celtic's investment, but she believes they will be competing right at the top again this term.
"It's no different to previous years, Hibs have always competed well in the league and they have been really successful in the cup competitions," Muir said.
"The more that goes into these other clubs, the more they are going to improve. I would say it is going to be harder, it probably will be the toughest season, but we'll be ready for it."
