IT was significant that the National Clinical Director, Jason Leitch, chose to mention women’s football on Friday. There was no necessity for him to do so; his media questioner, with jarring predictably, had asked when the men’s lower leagues might be able to resume.
After responding, Leitch added: “We are also very worried about equity because the women’s game has been particularly badly hit by these restrictions and we don’t want that to be the case. So, we are very keen to get particularly the women’s game back.”
It was the Scottish FA’s decision to suspend all professional football outwith the men’s Premiership and Championship for three weeks from January 11. Or, as they described it at the time: “A temporary suspension of all football beneath the SPFL Championship.”
That own goal revealed how insignificant the top tiers of women’s football are in the minds of the SFA board. Nevertheless, when the original suspension was extended a further twice, the governing body were able to state it was the Scottish Government’s decision.
Leitch’s comments appear to have removed that obstacle. It should now be possible to envisage an imminent return to training for the top women’s clubs.
It is, however, not that simple. Any return would probably have to be accompanied by PCR testing – and the majority of SWPL clubs could not afford the cost.
That being the case, the most obvious source of funding is the $500,000 Covid relief grant which FIFA gave the SFA specifically for women’s football; not all of it, obviously, but enough to allow the clubs to test.
Back in early January, when there was much hype about new, potentially more deadly, strains of the virus, a number of SWPL players and staff supported the initial three-week suspension. That figure has shrunk, with only a tiny minority still harbouring reservations. It has also emerged that a much smaller percentage of players than originally envisaged have day jobs which involve contact with the public.
“Our players are scunnered with not being able to train and play and are comfortable to return,” Spartans head coach Debbi McCulloch reported.
Rachael Boyle, the Hibernian vice-captain who backed the original suspension, also says she has no issues about resuming with testing protocols in place.
As Professor Leitch pointed out, it is a matter of equity when the top of women’s football is treated differently from the top of men’s football. That is glaringly obvious, and the onus is now on the SFA to respond positively.
AND ANOTHER THING
SCOTLAND held almost every advantage going into Tuesday’s final Euro 2022 Group E qualifier against Portugal. Yet, for the fourth time in five games, the national team lost.
Portugal suffered a crushing defeat to Finland in Helsinki four days earlier, losing a goal in time added on which effectively ended their hopes of reaching the finals. The third seeds then had to recover from the physical exertion and mental let-down whilst also being required to travel from Finland to Cyprus.
Scotland, by contrast, were already on the island, having had nothing more onerous to deal with the previous Friday than dismantling a very poor home side. It was a scenario which promised a comfortable win, and nothing in the opening 25 minutes – again played at a commendably high tempo – suggested otherwise, with Scotland on the attack and creating chances.
This time, however, they had a competent goalkeeper to deal with. That, and the familiar failings in front of goal which characterised all four defeats in Group E, meant there was no breakthrough.
The less said about Portugal’s first goal the better, other than, given what had happened in the previous two minutes, it was an accident waiting to happen. Thanks to the lightning-fast reactions of 23-year-old Ana Capeta it duly did.
Nor was the second goal – which afforded Portugal a bigger scoreline than they had managed in their wins over Albania (twice) and Cyprus – much better.
Self-inflicted defensive errors and the recurring failure to take chances in the games that mattered, cannot be overlooked. Post-match comments about the double-header having been an opportunity to “build” and “grow” are meaningless until these basic deficiencies are addressed.
Despite being top seeds, Scotland ended Group E a whopping 10 points behind Finland, and seven behind Portugal. They failed to score in all four matches against their two main, but lower- ranked, opponents.
These are the facts. They are also the reason why the SFA need to appoint a permanent head coach with the CV and fresh perspective to make Scotland a more robust and clinical side.
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