Moving on up: the Barclays Scottish Women Football Championship mid-season review
As the teams re-emerge from the tunnel of the winter break for the second half of the season, SWF takes a look at the state of play in our top national league, the Barclays Scottish Women’s Championship.
In just their third season as national leagues, both national leagues are possibly more competitive this season than ever before, with five points between the Championship’s top five and only two points separating the League One top four.
East Fife were early leaders in the Championship and reclaimed top spot in November with an impressive 4-1 victory over in-form rivals Stirling University, and at the halfway point will be confident that they can sustain their title push.
The Methil side have enjoyed more consistency this season, after starting the campaign with pacy winger Chloe Guppy moved back into defence alongside the experienced Liz Corke and Ceri Thomas adding more resilience to the team, having only conceded 10 goals so far. The consistency of Teri Skivington has also been a major factor in the club’s fortunes, playing deep to control and dictate play and also the league’s current top scorer.
Second-placed Inverness Caledonian Thistle lost first team regulars Kayleigh Mackenzie and Rhea Hossack at the start of the season, but manager Karen Mason has successfully brought through academy players to build a more consistent side, bolstered by the dependability of veterans such as ten-goal Julia Scott and right back Natalie Bodiam, as well as the keeper with the league’s most clean sheets so far in Jen Horrocks.
A 2-1 victory at Bayview in October typified the new-look ICT, able to grind out the kind of result on the road that had all-too-often eluded them last seven, although a humbling by Stirling University in the league cup quarter final suggested some vulnerabilities on the road remain. Which version of ICT turns up for the second half of the season will play a major role in the destination of the title.
Both sides that dropped down from SWPL2 played out a rearranged draw in December, denying both teams momentum going into the break, but both will hoping to kick on as the league recommences.
Stirling University topped the table briefly in November but currently sit in third, just a point ahead of the Glasgow Girls team that beat them to the SWPL/Championship place last season. This has been largely down to a notably different approach from the university side, opting to keep the ball on the deck and play some nice football through the thirds. This has suited a team which includes ball-players like Rachel Holywood, Lucy Jackman and Rhianne Ferguson, with a reliable goalkeeper in Regan Ott ensuring they do not concede many goals at the other end.
Glasgow Girls and Women, however, are the league’s top scorers with 48 goals, spread through their large squad. Having overhauled the team ahead of their first season in the new-look Championship, they will see their superior +30 goal difference as an indication that they can progress up the table from their current fourth in the second half of the season. Former Motherwell forward Brooke Shields has played a major role, chipping in 11 goals to be the league’s second top scorer so far this season.
Bolstered by some ambitious signings, Falkirk started the season with a convincing derby victory over a Stenhousemuir side that had pipped them to the League One title before the summer. Former Livingston stars Brogan Anderson, Shannon Todd and on-loan Boroughmuir Olivia Murphy have shone, alongside Falkirk stalwarts Ellie Roberts and Iona Bridges to ensure the Bairns rose to the top of the league in October, but a surprise defeat to Morton at home at the end of that month ensured their time at the top was short-lived, as well has being held to 1-1 by Stenny in the second derby of the season. Craig Tully will feel he has the tools to aim for back-to back promotions, and with only a five-point gap to the top of the table it is still a possibility.
Dryburgh Athletic are another team that saw some personnel changes in the summer, and find themselves a place higher than where they were at this time last season. The difference has been the form of striker Rebecca Scobie, who has scored nine goals since stepping up from the Dundee side’s development team in the summer. However, Dryburgh’s reputation for being defensively solid has been under pressure this season, with their 30 goals conceded putting them into negative goal difference, and they will no doubt be looking to shore that up in the weeks ahead as they aim to secure that top six place.
Renfrew Ladies will see themselves as best placed to deny Dryburgh that place, having scored an impressive 40 goals already but won one fewer games. Despite breakout starlet Becky Downs already into a double-figure goals tally, the club finds itself in a similar position to where it was 12 months ago and will hope that the goalscoring form continues to help them climb the table.
Stenhousemuir in eighth and Forfar Farmington in ninth have struggled to find the consistency that secured them promotion last season. However, the former finished the first half of the season by beating East Fife, salvaging a point at local rivals Falkirk then beating Forfar. Whether they can keep this momentum going to climb the table will depend on whether they can cope with the loss of highly influential players Megan French, who has returned to America, and playmaker Eva Ralston who will continue her studies in Madrid. Sarah McLeod has arrived on loan from Rossvale to fill the gap.
The absence of last season’s top scorers Cheryl Kilcoyne (injury) and Claire Hendry (transferred to Arbroath) has been keenly felt at Forfar Farmington, who have won five but generally struggled in games against the teams above them. There will be confidence that the team can consolidate their place in the third tier after back-to-back promotions from the regional leagues, especially now Hendry has returned to the club.
Tenth-placed Morton have already amassed as many wins and a point more in the first half of the season as they secured in the whole of the 2023/24 campaign, including pulling off a shock 4-3 victory at Falkirk stadium in October. The return of former skipper Rachael McConnachie has been a big factor, chipping in eight goals already. But with both automatic relegation and a relegation playoff looming this season, Morton will be looking to consolidate and pick up more points to retain their Championship status.
Aberdeenshire side Westdyke have felt the loss of captain Emma Murray this season as she takes time off to have a baby. Having retained the talents of freescoring Kayleigh Traynor ahead of a group of attack-minded youngsters, the team has missed Murray’s ability to lead by example, breaking up play in the middle of the park to win possession. Traynor finished last season as joint top scorer in the division but her team will need more than her goals to overturn a form which has only one win and one draw so far.
Hutchison Vale manager Ashley McBride inherited barely half a squad in the summer and understandably struggled to recruit to a team which finished bottom last season but was saved from relegation by league expansion. Despite remaining without a point so far, McBride deserves credit for installing a siege mentality among the players she has, and if they can stick together this will surely stand them in good stead next season where it seems increasingly likely they will be playing in League One.
