| Venue: Hampden Park, Glasgow Date: Saturday, 22 April Kick-off: 12:30 BST |
| Coverage: Follow live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app |
Let’s turn the clock back to Wembley Stadium, 1 August 2015. It hosted its first ever Women’s FA Cup final with a crowd of more than 30,000, which felt significant at the time, but it feels even more significant now.
Notts County took on Chelsea, giants of the women’s game. I was a Magpie, on the other side, I was also the first Scottish female player to play in that fixture at its new home.
Ironic I guess, being a Scotland International, I’d played at Wembley more times than I’d played at Hampden Park. In fact, that’s still the case.
That’s why this weekend is seismic for our game.
On Saturday I’m proud to be part of a Motherwell side taking on Rangers, for the first ever domestic women’s game to be held at Hampden. It’s historic and a day that eight years ago on the bus out of an emptying Wembley, I’d not have been able to dream of as I sat contemplating life with a runner’s up medal feeling weighty around my neck.
I remember my first visit to Hampden as a kid. Our football coach took us along to watch a Scotland men’s under-21s match, I must have been around 10 years old. We were sat behind the goals in the west stand, the place felt enormous, I’ll never forget it, just one of those moments that sticks with you.
I recall the hysteria from my friends that night. The crowd wasn’t close to capacity, but to us it felt like a proper football match. Certainly, different from watching on the television, it was real, you could almost touch it. But it felt a million miles away, not the pitch – although some will disagree – but the thought of stepping foot on it.
I’ve visited many stadiums over the years both as a player and as a pundit and I know people complain that Hampden Park doesn’t quite carry the same atmosphere as others. I would have to disagree. Every time I’ve visited, it has taken me somewhere different.
You cannot deny that when Leigh Griffiths bagged those two free-kicks against England that the place lacked atmosphere. Nor could you say that when Lyndon Dykes struck a late winner for Scotland against Denmark back in 2021 that the atmosphere wasn’t electric. I could feel the commentary gantry moving under my feet, the place was rocking.
In May 2019, I was part of the Scotland team who played a World Cup warm-up match against Jamaica, although, literally the warm-up was as close as I got to the pitch as I didn’t feature that night. But with a record crowd of 18,500, a jubilant Tartan Army littered with young fans, and a national team heading to a World Cup for the first time in 21 years, it was surreal. An occasion I hope I’ll never forget.
‘A new beginning for Scottish women’s football’
Only recently has Hampden Park become the home of the Scottish women’s national team, now it’s opening its doors to our domestic game, too.
My current role at Motherwell has given me the chance to work with an incredible bunch of coaches and players. Day in and day out they remind me exactly why I love the game.
They manage an intense training schedule on top of full-time time jobs, education, and family commitments. They’re honest, humble, and emotionally engaged. It’s a blend of players, both in age and experience, many who have faced adversity throughout their careers and others who thankfully, don’t yet understand what adversity is.
Which is why on Saturday, when Motherwell take on Rangers at Hampden Park, it will signify new beginnings in Scottish women’s football. It will enforce how far we have come and regardless of the results, all four teams who take to the pitch should savour the moment.
We can’t ever take for granted where we are now and never should we underestimate how far we can go, emulating that Wembley crowd in the coming years here in Scotland at our national stadium.