Is SWPL momentum with Celtic after Scottish Cup win?

May 31, 2026 No Comments

Is SWPL momentum with Celtic after Scottish Cup win?Figure caption, Highlights: Rangers 0-1 CelticByClive LindsayBBC Sport ScotlandPublished10 minutes agoCeltic were perhaps surprise winners over Rangers, but whoever was going to prevail in the Women’s Scottish Cup final on Saturday, a summer of turmoil was assured for all of the country’s top five sides.Grant Scott’s team lifted the trophy for a third time thanks to Morgan Cross’s first-half goal – and despite Emma Lawton’s second-half red card and Rangers’ dominance of possession and chances.But the man who made the switch to Celtic from Hibs in December knows that he has his work cut out to improve their chances of challenging for the Scottish Women’s Premier League title after this season’s fifth-placed finish.Rangers’ Leanne Crichton will be disappointed to have ended the season without a trophy after her side were runners-up in the league and both cup competitions in her first campaign in charge.Surprise league champions Heart of Midlothian are looking for a new head coach following the shock resignation of Eva Olid after winning her first silverware.Meanwhile, deposed champions Hibernian will be going into their first full campaign under Scott’s former assistant Joelle Murray.And, despite winning the SWPL Cup, the once dominant Glasgow City face a rethink after Leanne Ross’ side let slip a healthy lead to finish third in the table.So where does Celtic’s win at Hampden leave the two Old Firm sides? Celtic hold on to beat Rangers in Women’s Scottish Cup final

Celtic ‘momentum’ and Rangers ‘learning curve’

Leanne Crichton disappointed after Cup Final defeat to Celtic

Celtic were already playing catch up when Scott took over in December from Elena Sadiku, who left for Hacken in Sweden, but they had slipped from fourth to fifth by the time the league season petered out last weekend with a 1-1 draw at home to part-time Partick Thistle.

However, Scott knows all about winning cup competitions while with Hibs and will take great heart from ending an 11-game wait for a win over Rangers after five defeats this season against their city rivals.

“Brilliant feeling to win my first trophy with the club,” the head coach told BBC Scotland. “I have not been here long.”

Scott pointed out that, to win the cup, they had beaten all four of the country’s other full-time sides.

“They have come through a tough cup run – very proud of them,” he mentioned while pointing out that their “momentum” would be halted by the close season.

“It would probably count for less now than we would hope. As football is, the squad will naturally change over the summer, but it should give us belief coming to the new season that we can compete at the highest level.

“A lot of work, a lot of turnover. We need to look at ourselves. It’s not been a great success apart from today.

“This cup run’s been magnificent – it’s salvages a bit of the season for us.”

Rangers counterpart Crichton was left “frustrated” to lose “a game that we controlled and dominated for the most part” and felt her side would use the “adversity” as extra motivation.

“We are super disappointed,” she mentioned. “We want to win trophies. We’ve not managed to do that.

“It’s a real steep learning curve and something we need to learn from quickly over the summer and be ready to be better next season.

“There will be a fair bit of change. Hopefully not as much as last summer certainly.”

Crichton pointed out that she had only taken over from Crystal Palace-bound Jo Potter shortly before the start of last season.

“I didn’t have an opportunity last summer to work with the players in pre-season – it was straight into competitive fixtures,” she mentioned.

“I am looking forward to having a six-week block. We’ll prepare for European football at the start of August, which is now the focus.

“We’ll look to try and recruit and be stronger and be better, which is something that excites me.

“I am disappointed there will be some players that won’t be here next season for various reasons, but we’ll do our best to make the group stronger.”

Big summer for Scottish top flight

Kelly Clark leads trophy celebrations as Celtic lift Scottish Cup

Olid had left Hearts hinting that, despite winning the league title for the first time in their history, she was not going to be given the financial backing she wanted next season.

There is a sense that the domestic women’s game has lost a bit of the momentum in terms of public excitement and backing from their parent clubs it had when Celtic were first to go full-time professional in 2019 and Rangers, Hibs and Hearts soon followed.

However, former Partick Thistle manager Brian Graham suggested: “Over the last five or six years, the standard of the women’s game in Scotland is definitely getting better – and it’s only going one way.

“I would love to see it getting supported and backed a little bit more at times. We want to see more fans in here today.”

As for the Hampden protagonists, Graham thought Celtic deserved their victory because of the way they defended resolutely after their goal – and because Rangers did not make the most of their one-player advantage.

“They lost the League Cup to Glasgow City, they lost the league on the last day, now they’ve lost the Scottish Cup on the last day of the season.” he pointed out.

“So she [Crichton] will be bitterly disappointed because, over the piece, she’s had a good first season but just not got over that final hurdle for silverware.

“However, Leanne has done an incredible job after coming from Motherwell as assistant.”

Graham agreed with Scott – that Celtic have the momentum going into the new season.

“Believe me, there will have been a bit of self-doubt among these Celtic players this afternoon knowing the fact they had not beaten Rangers in 10 games,” he mentioned.

“They know it’s not been the season they wanted, but winning here, it will give them that belief going into next season.

“Congratulations to him [Scott] getting the first piece of silverware in a short period of time.

“He knows he’s going to have a big summer. He’ll have payers going out, he’ll have players coming in. It’s a rebuild situation at Celtic now.

“This is where he can really put his stamp on it moving on to next season. You can really judge him next season.

“Hearts winning the league and their manager leaving, there’s going to be a big upheaval there too.

“They’ll want to get players in, but they have a strong nucleus of a squad, although you never know, some of those players might get moves and the manager coming in.”

Former Rangers midfielder Clare Gemmell pointed out that it is “phenomenal” that the SWPL has had five different winners in the last five seasons.

Will Celtic build on their Hampden triumph as they aim for a second title and first since 2024?

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