The Celtic boardroom is a story of its own with its vast array of memorabilia, honours and silverware, a collection of the club’s most iconic moments from foundation to modern day domination.
It was fitting yesterday that Elena Sadiku, the coach of the women’s side, should add the SWPL trophy to its collection, the first time the silverware has ever found a home at Celtic Park.
It does not come with riches or significant prestige; of 60,000 season ticket holders there were just 7624 interested enough in its journey to turn out to see final day drama. Patsy Gallacher’s great-grand-daughter, sporting the number 7 on her back, delivered a 90th minute winner that sealed Celtic’s title on goal difference, a dramatic finale to an intriguing campaign.
“It still feels a bit surreal,” said Sadiku. “I know how we won but it has not yet sunk in. Yesterday and being around the players you can just watch and see how happy they are and it was just an amazing evening.”
The achievement is a new kind of moment in Celtic’s story. The first Scottish club now to boast title winners across both male and female teams, it gives the women’s side a place in the modern entity that is Celtic in 2024. What is intriguing is where it goes from here.
Sadiku has no ambiguity about the direction in which she wishes to take the club. This week has seen Celtic firmly claim the bragging rights in Glasgow but there is more than just one-upmanship at play. The riches of the men’s Champions League that came with Brendan Rodgers’ title win put Celtic into a financial sphere that is unparalleled with anything that has gone before.
With the women’s team now on course for a potential group stage Champions League involvement if they can plot a way through the champions qualification route, Sadiku is confident that there will be support as she looks to enhance her squad.
“I have a big trust in the board and a big trust in Chris Duffy,” she said. “I know that I have the support that I need and together and we are going to do some great things. They [Peter Lawwell and Michael Nicholson] were very happy and it is nice that you can bring something like this to them. They were really happy and happy for me, for the players and for the staff.
“It feels amazing to contribute to make sure that the club wins more trophies and titles. It means a lot and it is why I came here, to help out as much as possible. I am very happy and very proud.
“I really believe that we have something special going on now and we are not going to be happy with thinking that we are going to do great. We want to keep the best players and bring in the best players that we can and then make something special. We have the chance of competing in Europe we want to take that chance and do the best we can with it. We want to dominate.”
Sadiku and the players enjoyed a post-match party at the stadium on Sunday night with a social media clip showing the Swede leading the celebrations with a vintage match-worn Henrik Larsson shirt on. It will take pride of place in Sadiku’s office, a framed memorial to the night when she penned her own name into the club’s history books.
“Luana [Munoz] came and she had a t-shirt and she said, ‘boss, this is for you.’ When I saw it, I put it on and had a lap with it. It was a good moment. I have it in the office – I am going to put it up on the wall.”
The biggest thing that the Swede has learned in her five months in Glasgow is that she believes she will get more of her players by seeing them as people rather than pawns of strategy in a gameplan.
“I remember when I came here that it did not feel like a big togetherness,” she said. “What we have done the last four, five months…some of the people commentated yesterday about how great the team is and how good the spirit is.
“That is what we need to keep building on. I put some of my demands and standards already but now it needs to change in the foundations and I need to be able to put more details in because I haven’t had time to do it.”
