The Daily Record’s headline on our women’s game with Chelsea was shameful.

Last night, our women’s team faced Chelsea in the Champions League—a massive game, a significant occasion, and the kind of night where the focus should have been solely on the football. But instead of highlighting the efforts of the players, the Daily Record decided to zero in on Celtic fans.

I understand how the media works. I know what drives online writers chasing clicks. I can spot a piece of clickbait nonsense a mile away, and I can also spot deliberate pot-stirring when I see it. Last night, the Daily Record managed both with their article about our supporters booing a Chelsea player coming onto the pitch.

The player in question, Erin Cuthbert, happens to be from Glasgow.

She previously played for our rivals and is a dyed-in-the-wool Ibrox supporter from a family of the same. Celtic fans booing her isn’t exactly shocking news, is it? It’s hardly a revelation. It’s not even a story. It’s pure fluff and gossip, and yet the media has bent over backwards to manufacture drama around this across both legs of the tie.

The Sun, for instance, ran a ludicrous piece about her wearing blue nail polish before the first game at Celtic Park. She plays for Chelsea. Chelsea’s colours are blue. Why on earth is this a story? This is the kind of tabloid garbage our media thrives on.

Cuthbert herself was asked what it would mean to score at Celtic Park. She said it would mean a lot to her as a Chelsea player but made a point of saying it wouldn’t mean more because of her Ibrox allegiances. Even with that level-headed response, the media couldn’t help trying to create a narrative. It’s a desperate obsession with finding some contrived angle to stir the pot.

Does the women’s game really need this kind of sensationalism?

The way these so-called journalists try to turn everything into a hate-filled drama is exhausting. To her credit, Erin Cuthbert appears to have taken it all in her stride. She didn’t seem fazed by the reaction at Celtic Park and presumably wasn’t last night either. She’s an ex-Ibrox player; a bit of booing was inevitable. So where is the actual story?

What’s appalling is how the media prioritises nonsense like this over serious matters. Earlier today, I wrote about Kyle Lafferty, who’s doing the rounds with his self-pity tour after receiving a ban for sectarian slurs in a Belfast nightclub.

Yet that story doesn’t get a fraction of the attention Celtic supporters booing an ex-Ibrox player does. That’s the media’s level—ignoring serious issues while amplifying triviality.

These two matches against Chelsea were monumental for our women’s team. This is our first-ever time in the Champions League group stages, the pinnacle of European women’s football. Yet, instead of treating these games with respect, the media reduced them to cheap sideshows.

The fact we were facing one of Europe’s top sides—Chelsea, a multiple title-winning team—should have been the story. Instead, they attempted to frame it as some kind of Glasgow derby. It was pathetic. The Daily Record’s headline last night was like a bad joke.

Yes, we lost 3-0, but it was a spirited, disciplined performance from our girls.

They’ve come a long way, learned a lot, and will be even better prepared next time. Perhaps then, the media might treat the occasion with the respect it deserves, instead of focusing on a player’s nail polish or some mild booing.

The underlying contempt for the women’s game in their coverage is palpable. Would it be different if another Glasgow side were representing Scotland in this competition? Perhaps, but even that’s questionable.

What’s certain is this: our press’s behaviour is disgraceful. Instead of celebrating a milestone for Celtic Women, they turned it into a spectacle of shame. For themselves.