Glasgow City continued their resurgence under head coach Leanne Ross when they beat Hibernian 2-0 at Meadowbank Stadium in the first post-split game last night. They are now nine points ahead of Celtic and ten clear of Rangers, but have played a game more.
City dominated the fourth encounter of the season against their old rivals, and goals in each half from Bea Prades and Lauren Davidson ensured the three points. Hibs goalkeeper Benni Haaland saved a Davidson penalty in the first half, but the league's top scorer had her revenge when Priscila Chinchilla was brought down for a second time in the box 13 minutes from time.
Rangers and Celtic play their game in hand against each other at Broadwood tomorrow (mon) night in what will be a landmark occasion. The match will be the first Scottish women's league fixture to be broadcast live on Sky Sports, and given City's handsome advantage it's one neither side can afford to lose.
Despite two-thirds of the fixtures having been completed, SWPL managing director Fiona McIntyre is optimistic about another major commercial development. Speaking at a post-split media event at Hampden on Thursday, McIntyre said: “We are expecting to sign a title sponsor fairly soon.
“We've also got some other commercial backers in the pipeline. From our perspective it's important we get the right partners, and the right value for the SWPL.
“I would say the season has worked out beyond our expectations given it was pretty much a standing start last summer. At that point we were a company which had been set up and a broad agreement from the clubs that they wanted to go in a new direction.
“On the pitch it has been competitive, which is important for us. Off the pitch is probably where we've made significant progress. There has been a record number of games on TV and it will be a landmark moment getting a league match on Sky.
“A lot has happened behind the scenes in the last nine months. We're definitely happy with where we're at, but there's lots more to come.
SCOTLAND will be based in Bath for the duration of next month's friendlies against Australia and Costa Rica. The players and backroom staff will only step foot in Scotland the day before the latter match at Hampden.
The decision to spend almost the entire international window in England is not, I'm told, related to comments made by Scotland men's coach John Carver in midweek. He described the Oriam training pitch in Edinburgh, which is also used by the women's side, as a safety hazard.
Even if the decision to spend seven days in Bath is not predicated on Carver's observations, it seems there is substance to his concerns about the Oriam pitch. For the avoidance of doubt this is not the one that Hearts, who travel to Petershill Park today for their first post-split game against Partick Thistle, use for their SWPL home matches
ACCORDING to social media a transgender player, described as a 6ft striker, is being fielded by a side in the SWFL East League. The team concerned had a 4-2 win reversed to a 3-0 defeat in their opening game of the season, but SWF will not say if the two events are connected.
A spokesperson said: “Scottish Women's Football takes the welfare of all our players very seriously and will never discuss their personal matters, whatever the circumstances. We are satisfied that all players in the SWFL East are eligible to play under the current rules.”
Those rules, drafted by the Scottish FA, put the emphasis on inclusion rather than safety and fairness. The policy states that male-to-female transgender footballers can play for women's teams if they provide evidence that hormone therapy has brought blood measured testosterone levels within the range of their affirmed gender.
That policy was seriously questioned in a report issued by the UK Sports Councils in September, 2001. It stated that male-to-female transgender athletes who have gone through male puberty retain physique, stamina and strength advantages when competing in female sports, regardless of testosterone suppression.
To underline these physical differences, the report pointed out that Australia, world champions USA and Brazil have all been heavily beaten in bounce games by 14 and 15-year-old boys club teams.
Having had 18 months to digest the contents, the SFA will presumably be looking to revisit their policy very soon. World Athletics gave a lead on Thursday when they announced that transgender athletes who have gone through male puberty will not be allowed to participate in female world ranking competitions.
