THERE will be Champions League football in Scotland next month, as Glasgow City will host the first-round mini-tournament they were drawn in on Friday. The four games are on August 18 and 21.
There is not enough space here to begin to explain the complexity of the tournament’s new format. But, absurd as the preliminary stages are, the bottom line is the introduction of a lucrative 16-team group stage and a more than four-fold increase in total prize money to almost £21m.
That this will include solidarity payments to all top league clubs in Europe is a welcome development. Nevertheless, the main beneficiaries, as is the case in the men’s Champions League, will almost inevitably be Europe’s elite clubs.
Debutants Celtic will play their mini-tournament in Trondheim. They face a much tougher task to reach the final of that than City – their opening game is against Levante, who finished third in Spain’s Primera Division for a third successive season and, because of the new format, qualified for the Champions League on this occasion.
Celtic’s Spanish head coach Fran Alonso knows Levante better than most and says they will be his side’s toughest ever opponents. The other teams in the mini-tournament are the hosts, Norwegian runners-up Rosenborg, and their Belarus counterparts FC Minsk.
Glasgow City, unlike Celtic, look to have landed a relatively easy task against Maltese champions Birkirkara in their first game. They beat them 9-0 in a qualifying group game in 2013-14.
A win would set up a likely mini-tournament final against BIIK-Shymkent, who, under their better-known guise of BIIK Kazygurt, beat City in the last-32 of the 2017-18 competition. Slovan Bratislava are the alternatives for the Scottish champions should they beat Birkirkara.
AND ANOTHER THING...
THERE will be a new head coach at City by the time the games are played. Scott Booth’s impending departure to FA WSL side Birmingham City means a rare change at a club which has been notable for its very low turnover of personnel in key positions.
This could be a pivotal time for City, as long-standing captain Leanne Ross, who has featured in all 14 consecutive title wins, turns 40 on Thursday and presumably must be giving some thought to her playing future. Another hugely experienced player, Leanne Crichton, joined Paul Brownlie’s coaching staff at Motherwell in midweek.
Booth’s move to the Midlands is a calculated risk. The positives are that he leaves City on a high, having led them (in much more testing circumstances) to a sixth title since becoming head coach, while the switch gives him a foothold in one of Europe’s top leagues.
The considerable downside is that he joins a club which only narrowly avoided relegation, and did so amidst a major player protest about alleged poor working conditions and pay. A huge squad rebuilding exercise – both in terms of numbers and morale – is swiftly required if Booth is to have any chance of succeeding.
AND ANOTHER THING...
THE decision to play the eight rounds of Scottish Building Society SWPL2 matches required to decide the two promotion places has been well and truly vindicated. A season like no other concludes this afternoon.
Aberdeen are the emphatic champions, and will receive their trophy after today’s home finale against Boroughmuir Thistle at Balmoral Stadium. The Cove Rangers ground will also be the venue for Aberdeen’s games next season as Cormack Park does not meet SWPL1 requirements.
Hamilton Accies will also be promoted if they beat Kilmarnock at New Douglas Park. They won the corresponding game 3-0 in October, and sit one point ahead of Partick Thistle and two better than Dundee United.
The two other promotion contenders playing each other also works very much in Accies’ favour. A draw is no use to either Thistle or United, and three points will only have any bearing if Hamilton slip up. What’s important is that all the teams were given the opportunity to be promoted. For a long time it looked as if it wouldn’t happen.
Those who persevered to ensure the games did go ahead deserve credit – as do all ten clubs and their players for shoehorning the fixtures into such a narrow window.
AND FINALLY...
THIS will be the last column sponsored by the Scottish Building Society, as their backing of the SWPL also ends this season. My thanks to all concerned, and in particular recent SBS director of marketing and communications Kerra McKinnie, who is also a Scottish Women’s Football board member.
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