CELTICG L A S G O W C I T Y

SCOTTISH BUILDINGSOCIETY SWPL1THURSDAY 18TH

APRIL 2019KICK OFF 8PM

women

A NOTE MANAGER

FROM THE

“

“

The players have responded superbly to

our tough training regime over the past few weeks.

Wolecki Black welcomes another former club in the shape of Glasgow City as the Hoops play just their third home tie of the season, tonight running out at Lennoxtown.

Celtic faced the reigning champions recently in the

League Cup in what ended in disappointment for the

Hoops who exited the cup, following a 4-0 defeat.

Despite the heavy scoreline, the Celts take belief from

the fact they created so many chances while the game

remained 0-0, and head into the first league meeting of

the two in second spot, making for an interesting battle

at the top.

GLASGOW CITYPROFILED

MANAGER: SCOTT BOOTHHOME GROUND: PETERSHILL PARK HONOURS: CURRENT SWPL1 CHAMPIONS

LAST MEETINGSWPL CUP QUARTER-FINAL: GLASGOW CITY 4-0 CELTIC

LAST 5CELTIC – WWDLW

Good evening and welcome along to Lennoxtown as I extend a warm welcome to Glasgow City who are our visitors tonight.

The weekend saw them defeat Rangers in the semi-finals of the League Cup and Scott Booth will not have had much pitch time with his players since they returned from international duty, however that is the nature of the women’s game. We have to adjust our plans and adapt to the circumstances. City took a great step towards retaining the title by overcoming Hibs a week past Friday. I watched the game and thought City were worthy winners on the night. We have kept ourselves ticking over by taking a practice match and the players have responded superbly to our tough training regime over the past few weeks. Our previous game saw us overcome Rangers on the same day our male equivalent also went to battle.

The win coupled with the other results that weekend saw us jump up the league table into second spot, thus making tonight’s tie a top of the table clash. Of course, for the victors the reward is huge, so I hope it is an entertaining match, enjoy the game!

Eddie Wolecki BlackManager, Celtic FC Women

GLASGOW CITY – WWWWW

It turned out to be a derby day double as first the men’s team saw

off the challenge to win 2-1 and we duly followed that up with an

emphatic 4-1 win.

Graduating from the Academy to the first-team may have meant Nicole Cairney had to swap the luxury of time on the ball for the nitty gritty of top-flight football, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Midfielder Cairney split her time last season between the first-team and the Academy squad, which she captained to a SWFL1 Cup championship.

“Last year I was so nervous whenever David Haley would ask me to come up but after a few games and training sessions I settled in.” she began.

Cairney’s development through her time last season dipping in and out of the first-team rocketed, but it has been nothing compared to the full step-up.

She said: “Progression wise it was such a big jump. At Academy, you have a lot more time and if you make a mistake its fine. However, in the first-team you have to be quicker on the ball and in decision making. It’s a higher tempo and there is less room for mistakes.”

The twenty-year-old has never known anything other than Celtic. Joining the club’s youth ranks in 2008 she progressed rapidly through the system and developed into a promising first-team prospect – not that she ever expected it to pan out like that.

“I never really thought I would actually do it. I’d been at the Academy for about two and a half years when I moved up but it wasn’t something I believed would happen for me.”

ACADEMY GRADUATENICOLE CAIRNEYLOVING LIFE AT THE TOP

The double derby day victories feel like a while ago now but I’m sure all the girls would agree that it was a very enjoyable and special day to be part of the club.

Another international break has given us an extra week to prepare for this game against Glasgow City and we have worked hard both on and off the pitch so we are as ready as we can be.

We know we can push them all the way if we play to our potential as we came really close to causing an upset towards the end of last season.

We were disappointed with our last performance against City in the cup so we’re glad we haven’t had to wait too long to play them again.

As a player these are the fixtures that you want to be part of and everyone is looking forward to the occasion.

Enjoy the game, Kelly

CAPTAIN’S COMMENTS

CLARK NOMINATED FOR SWPL POTMKelly Clark has been shortlisted for the Scottish Building Society Scottish Women’s Premier League Player of the Month for March after helping the club leapfrog Hibs into second.

The midfielder has led the Hoops to an undefeated March in the league, resulting in Celtic sitting second after five games played.

The Celts scored nine in March and conceded only two, taking their record to 14 scored and only four conceded in league action for 2019.

The skipper nodded home the second in a 4-1 rout over Rangers on double derby day to mark her first goal of the season, just moments after setting up Josi Giard for the opener.

Good luck Kelly!

Celtic discovered their Scania Women’s Under-19s Cup opposition as they gear up to head to France this summer for the international tournament.

Heading to Paris in group 4, the squad will be joined by host nation sides Paris and Montpellier as well as Germany’s Turbine Potsdam.

Held at the Stade Rémy Lambert in Sablé-sur-Sarthe near Le Mans, the Under-19s invitational is part of an international, inter-age group tournament welcoming women’s and men’s teams.

The competition running across 23 and 24 June will coincide with the World Cup in France, where Scotland will make their debut appearance, drawn in Group D with England, Japan and Argentina.

YOUTH UPDATE

ANSWERS: 1 Josephine Giard | 2 Paris | 3 Goalkeeper and centre back | 4 Kelly Clark | 5 Two – Kathleen McGovern and Emma Craig

1 WHO SCORED CELTIC’S OPENER AGAINST RANGERS? 2 WHERE IS THE SCANIA CUP HELD IN JUNE?3 WHAT POSITIONS DO NEW SIGNINGS FARRELL AND HODGES PLAY IN? 4 WHICH CELT IS UP FOR MARCH’S SWPL PLAYER OF THE MONTH? 5 HOW MANY CELTS WERE PART OF THE SCOTLAND UNDER-19S SQUAD WHO PLAYED A DOUBLE HEADER AGAINST ENGLAND?

QUIZ

Sarah Ewens is itching to get back to action after a two week break and is ready to stay at the top end of the table.

Celtic put four past Rangers in their last outing lifting the spirits after two goalless games, and the striker says they are keen to take that form forward.

“I think when you come off a game like that, when we played really well and scored some good goals, confidence is high and you want to keep going so it is a bit frustrating having to wait a couple of weeks,” the forward confessed.

“We just need to keep working hard at training and stay focused.”

Celtic’s double derby day victory took them up to second place on goal difference and a win against Glasgow City at Lennoxtown would see them go top.

She said: “It’s good to keep towards the top of the table and be competitive with City and Hibs, so to go in at second does add to the confidence and makes it a bit more of an exciting game.”

WOLECKI BLACK WELCOMES TWO FORMER CELTS BACK INTO THE FOLD

Eddie Wolecki Black has welcomed two former Celts back to the club in the shape of defender Kelsey Hodges and goalkeeper Autumn Farrell.

The added reinforcement offers a new depth to his squad he says, as the Hoops look to build on their recent move into second in the league.

“They add a lot of depth to the squad and it helps settle the squad if there are injuries,” he said as he officially welcomed them to the club.

Wolecki Black links back up with Farrell, who he signed from Celtic while at Glasgow City and is well aware of Hodges’ attributes following her involvement at training for the past few months. And with both returning to the club with a good idea of the setup, he believes they understand the task they face to break into his plans.

“They know a fair number of the girls as well and Kelsey has been training with us for a couple of months now, so she’s well aware of the quality here,” he explained.

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CELTICMANAGER:

EDDIE WOLECKI BLACK

Autumn Farrell 1Keeva Keenan 2 Claire Crosbie 3

Cheryl McCulloch 4Natalie Ross 5Chloe Craig 6

Kirsty McLaughlin 7Kat Smart 8

Josephine Giard 9Kathleen McGovern 10

Sarah Ewens 11 Rachel Donaldson 12

Nicole Cairney 14 Kelly Clark 15

Emma Black 16Kodie Hay 17

Kelsey Hodges 19Megan Cunningham 25

Rachael O’Neill 40

21/4 – STIRLING UNIVERSITY V CELTIC (SCOTTISH BUILDING SOCIETY SWPL1)AWAY | OCHILVIEW PARK | KICK-OFF 12PM

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@CELTICFCWOMEN @CELTICFCWOMENCELTICFCWOMEN.CO.UK

GLASGOW CITY MANAGER: SCOTT BOOTH

3 Karsey McGlinchy4 Hayley Lauder5 Murron Cunningham6 Joanne Love8 Leanne Crichton9 Kirsty Howat10 Clare Shine11 Nicola Docherty12 Jenna Clark15 Lidja Kulis16 Leanne Ross18 Samantha Kerr19 Joanne Paton20 Carly Girasoli21 Jordan McLintock23 Megan Foley24 Lara Ivanusa25 Erin Clachers29 Lee Alexander