SWPL: Rangers' Rio Hardy and Queen's Park's Ellie Kane win Player of Month awards for November
Rio Hardy is the SWPL top-goalscorer after adding five goals in four matches to her tally in November; Ellie Kane is the first player to win the SWPL 2 prize four times in a row and has scored in all 11 of Queen's Park's games this season
Friday 8 December 2023 19:52, UK
Rangers' Rio Hardy has been named the ScottishPower Women's Premier League player of the month for the first time.
The striker is currently the SWPL's top goalscorer with 17 league goals and three Sky Sports Cup goals this season.
Hardy - who joined Rangers in the summer - scored five goals in four games last month, as well as providing three assists to help keep her side top of the table.
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It is the third time this season a Rangers player has picked up the prize after team-mate Kirsty Howat claimed the September and October awards.
The English forward beat Rachel Donaldson (Partick Thistle), Bayley Hutchison (Aberdeen), and Natalie Ross (Celtic) to claim the prize.
Kane again for SWPL 2 award
Meanwhile, Queen's Park's Ellie Kane won November's SWPL 2 award - picking up the prize for a fourth month running.
Kane has scored in every league game this season, a run stretching across 11 games, with four more coming in November plus an assist in every game last month.
The Spiders are currently seven points clear at the top of the table having won all their matches in November.
She beat Beth McKay (Livingston) and Maria Novou Torrente (Boroughmuir Thistle) to the prize.
SWPL clubs receive 'record' payments
Scottish Women's Premier League clubs received 'record' payments last season - with figures almost up four times compared to the previous campaign.
A total of £344,154 was issued to clubs, with almost £260,000 of that coming through club fees and the remaining £85,000 through prize money for the Sky Sports Cup.
New broadcast deals, including at least five games live on Sky Sports - plus record attendances towards the end of last season - saw history made in the women's game in Scotland.
"These are exceptionally strong figures for the first full season of the SWPL and are a testament to the hard work of our clubs to advance women's football in Scotland," said SWPL managing director Fiona McIntyre.
"Driving value back to our member clubs is a vital part of our strategy to continue the current growth trajectory we are seeing in women's football."
McIntyre also said broadcast partners had "collectively driven both financial growth and increased visibility of the SWPL".
Clubs are also receiving licence fee payments from new match ball partner PUMA, while Park's Motor Group were named the first-ever title sponsor of the league, while ScottishPower acquired the title rights to the SWPL.
More than 100,000 fans attended women's games in Scotland last season while the domestic record attendance for a single game was also broken on three occasions.
Just over 8,000 watched Hibernian host Hearts in the Edinburgh derby before Celtic Park hosted 9,553 fans for Celtic vs Glasgow City.
Celtic broke the record again on the final day of the season, with 15,822 turning out to watch their 2-0 win over Hearts.
The campaign also saw a thrilling finale where Glasgow City, Celtic and Rangers all went into the last day with a chance of becoming champions before City secured the title with a dramatic late goal.
Key dates for the 2023/24 SWPL season
Winter break - December 18 to January 13
First post-split fixtures - March 17, 2024
Final round of matches - May 19, 2024
Play-off finals - May 23/24, 2024
Sky Sports Cup final - March 23 or 24, 2024
Scottish Premiership and SWPL on Sky Sports
Sky Sports - This season up to 48 cinch Premiership games will be available across Sky Sports' flagship channels, including Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Main Event, plus at least five SWPL matches. From 2024/25, up to 60 cinch Premiership will be live on Sky Sports, in addition to the SWPL.
Sky Sports News - Running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Scottish football fans can enjoy Sky Sports News' (channel 409) rolling editorial coverage of the cinch Premiership and SWPL throughout the season.
Sky Sports Digital - Follow all the latest from Scottish football across SkySports.com and app, including exclusive features and interviews, plus dedicated live blog coverage, in-game clips from matches live on Sky Sports and free highlights.
Sky Sports Social - Alongside coverage and visibility for the league across all Sky Sports' main social media channels, the bespoke Twitter channel @ScotlandSky will continue to be the home of all Scottish football content on Sky Sports.
Highlights show - Tune in for a dedicated round-up from the cinch Premiership every week on Sky Sports Football.
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