Welcome to our fortnightly article Scots Abroad – a feature on the trials and tribulations of Scottish players playing their football outside of Scotland.
Well a lot has happened in the last 3 weeks and there has been joy and despair for many of our Scots Abroad.
Where do we start? I suppose a good place would be Saturday 5th May on a hot afternoon at the SEE Cup Final at Wembley.
In front of a record crowd of over 45,000 fans the Arsenal trio of Lisa Evans, Emma Mitchell and Kim Little were seeking further FA Cup success. However a winners medal ended up in the hands of the Scot in the Chelsea side, Erin Cuthbert, as Chelsea eased to a 3-1 win.
It was a great occasion for all involved to see Wembley filled with so many fans. It was also great to see four Scots on the pitch at the same time competing in such a big occasion. In the WSL it just gets better and better for Erin Cuthbert’s Chelsea as they remain unbeaten with wins over Everton, Birmingham and Sunderland. Cuthbert grabbed a critical last minute winner in the 2-1 victory over Birmingham and they are now favourites to grab the WSL1 title with two games to go.
Man City by contrast have stumbled of late, and it looks increasingly likely they will end the season without any silverware. As Chelsea march on Man City beat Bristol City 6-1 with both Claire Emslie and Jane Ross on the scoresheet but then lost to both Liverpool and Arsenal in teams inspired by “Scots Abroad” Caroline Weir and Kim Little.
While the WSL1 title is still to be decided the WSL2 title was secured at the weekend by Doncaster Belles. They have only lost one game and their “Scots Abroad” striker Kirsty Hanson remains second top goalscorer with 11 goals from 21 games. Congratulations to the Bellles and Kirsty.
The Wembley final was not the only final being contested by a Scot Abroad.
In Sweden congratulations go to Fiona Brown who also picked up a winners medal as her Rosengard side beat Linkoping 1-0 in the Svenska Cupen Final.
Fiona also helped her side win 2-1 against Djurgarden to keep pace with early leaders Pitea. There was an all Scots clash in the league as Kalmar, with Ife Dieke in their defence, secured their first victory of the season with a 1-0 victory over Vittsjo who had Shannon Lynn in goals.
Elsewhere another Scot also helped her team to their first win of the season as Vaila Barsley’s Eskilstuna beat Hammarby 1-0. We will have much more on the Swedish league (Damallsvenskan) as the season progresses.
In Italy it was good to see Lana Clelland getting pitch time after her recent injury woes. Her Tavagnacco side closed off their season with a disappointing 4-0 defeat to league leaders Juventus, but despite this they finished a creditable third in the league. Despite the injuries it has been an excellent season for Lana who finished 5th in the goalscoring chart with an impressive total of 13 goals during the season.
The next “Scots Abroad” article will focus on the WSL1 season which comes to a climax over the next week. Will it be Chelsea or Man City that win the title and can Arsenal sneak third place and secure a Champions League place for 2018/19. Can Liverpool secure a top 5 finish and will Bristol City finish with a flourish?
All will be revealed next time.
