THE clock will be turned back five years when Scotland play Chile on Friday and Brazil a week tomorrow. Both games are in San Pedro del Pinatar, a small coastal town in Murcia.
By coincidence Scotland, then under the direction of Anna Signeul, played the two nations within three days of each other in December, 2013. A 3-1 loss to Brazil, with Hayley Lauder scoring a fine goal, was followed by Chile winning 4-3.
Both games were part of a four team tournament in Brasilia also involving Canada – who Scotland played at the start of this month. All four are competing at the World Cup, Chile and Scotland for the first time.
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We know plenty about Brazil, and Marta, but back in 2013 Chile were almost an unknown quantity. As with many South American countries they got little support from their Federation and therefore fixtures were few and far between.
A timeline graph shows their world ranking swinging wildly between the early hundreds and the forties. They are currently at No.39, two below our Group D opponents Argentina, but as our players discovered in Brasilia they are probably better than that.
Competition for Scotland squad places is intensifying. Sophie Howard and Lisa Evans return after long absences, while Lana Clelland – who came off the bench to play in front of 39,000 fans against Juventus last Sunday – and Emma Mitchell are at the head of a queue hoping to secure late World Cup places.
The injuries to Howard, Evans and Clelland are part and parcel of the game, but so far there has been no repetition of the spate of them which undermined the Euro 2017 preparations and the tournament games.
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“There were some real big injuries to some big players,” Shelley Kerr, who replaced Signeul after the Euros, confirmed. “Our medical team and coaching staff have been very mindful of that all the way through the qualifying campaign and the friendly games – we haven't taken any risks.
“The players are the priority. So far I think we've managed them well. We've never taken an injured player into camp, or one that there has been any doubt about whatsoever.
“I can't control what happens at a club, but I won't stress myself over it. It is what it is, and injuries are part of football.”
THIS year's League Cup final is to be played on a Friday night at the Penny Cars Stadium in Airdrie. It will be televised live by BBC Alba.
In my opinion – and I'll happily retract if I'm wrong – all the above ingredients will contribute to reversing the recent trend of increased crowds. League Cup finals were played on Wednesday evenings until two years ago when they switched to Sunday afternoons. There was an attendance of 436 for the last midweek game at Ainslie Park in 2016, followed by 572 (Broadwood, 2017) and 651 (Falkirk Stadium, 2018).
These figures are modest, but moving encouragingly in an upward direction. So, why try to fix something that ain't broke?
The widespread perception is that it is to accommodate BBC Alba. The broadcaster openly states it is trying to showcase women's sports – not just football – on Friday nights.
Yet, while confirming Alba asked for a Friday, Scottish Women's Football insist that was not the main reason for the switch. SWF have been commendably open in trying to defend their decision – but in quoting good attendances at a Hamilton-Celtic game way back in 2013, as well as last season's televised match between Forfar Farmington and Hibernian at Station Park – they seem to be making the huge assumption that Friday night football is something supporters enjoy.
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On the stadium issue, Airdrie lies between Glasgow and Edinburgh, and the semi-final draw has ensured a team from either city will contest the final. But public transport links to the ground are poor, and after a day at work or school many could find switching on the television more attractive.
SWF also point out that Friday nights have worked for Glasgow Warriors and Glasgow Rocks. Maybe so, but a one-off final at a neutral ground is an entirely different proposition to building crowds round a specific venue.
What's relevant is that Sunday League Cup finals delivered a 50 per cent crowd increase in two years. Despite this, SWF have opted for a Friday night shot in the dark.
That this is a major gamble was apparent at Ainslie Park two evenings ago on Friday. A tiny crowd assembled to watch Hibs lose 1-0 to Glasgow City in their top of the table league game – albeit in circumstances you couldn't have scripted as the Edinburgh club's men's team were also playing live on television at the same time.
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