Before I begin this piece, I have a stark confession to make; until recently I had never watched a Celtic women’s game in my life.
But this isn’t sexism at play.
Only on rare occasions to I ever watch the youth team play either, and the idea of watching them in the Lowland League in the coming campaign is so unappealing I think I would rather take up gardening.
I was not in the least bit surprised to see John Hughes linked with the job coaching our youths through that particular setup. Because that’s what we’re reducing youth development to; long ball football on ploughed fields against amateur players.
If there is a plan here I cannot see it and cannot imagine how it will benefit us in the least.
Our youth team needed to be in a competition; that’s a fact.
But I see zero merit in the avenue we’ve chosen for them.
The standard of opposition isn’t the only issue.
The fact that we can’t actually win anything or even just get promoted makes the whole exercise look like a waste of time and effort. We need a better solution than this.
One of the things that brought me, finally, to the women’s team was the fact that they were actually competitive, playing for something that mattered. As it became clear that they were in a genuine race I got interested.
When it became clear that they have a progressive coach committed to the right type of football, I really got interested.
Good football, goals, excitement, a well drilled team which was dedicated to the task at hand and determined to push our title challengers to the wire … it’s fantastic and it has been great to watch them these past few months as they battled for glory.
They came close too.
They finished the season as the league’s strongest team.
Had the campaign lasted just a few more weeks I genuinely think they’d have done it.
I know this; I’ll be watching them when next season kicks off, and cheering them on all the way.
I can’t remember a more frustrating time to be a Celtic fan, but even amidst all this chaos the great performances of the women’s team have been a major tonic and given us all a lift.
The whole club is better off for the ladies, and I’m sure we’re all looking forward to much more to come in the future … including the league title.