Welcome to our fortnightly article Scots Abroad – a feature on the trials and tribulations of Scottish players playing their football outside of Scotland.
It was the climax of the WSL in England and the inevitable happened as Chelsea popped the champagne corks sealing the WSL1 title in style with a convincing 2-0 win at Bristol City. Erin Cuthbert was at the centre of those celebrations as her side completed the double. This also secured another champions league campaign for 2019 but what Scots would be joining her on European soil?
Arsenal maintained the pressure with a 2-0 win at Sunderland with Kim Little scoring as Man City won 5-0 against Yeovil with another stunning finish from Claire Emslie. The results meant it would all go down to the last games of the season with Man City needing a victory to secure the second champions league spot. In the end, despite a resounding 6-1 win against Bristol City, it was despair for Arsenal’s Scots contingent as they missed a Champions League qualification by a point. In contrast the trio of Scots at Manchester City will be packing their bags again for another European adventure as they eased to a 3-0 win against Everton.
Meanwhile Chelsea staged a remarkable late comeback on the last day of the season to win 3-2 at Liverpool and end their league campaign unbeaten.
While Manchester City surprisingly ended the season without any silverware, the Arsenal trio of Kim Little, Emma Mitchell and Lisa Evans all picked up Continental Cup winners medals, while Erin Cuthbert travels home with both a league and FA Cup winners medal.
In WSL2 Kirsty Hanson, who won the WSL2 Young Player of the Season accolade from Our Game Magazine, was presented with her league winners medal as Doncaster Belles rounded off their season with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Oxford Women.
In Sweden Fiona Brown scored two goals past her Scotland colleague Shannon Lynn as Rosengard won 2-0 over Vittsjo to maintain second place in the Swedish league.
With the FA announcing the new structure for women’s football in England for the 2018/19 season the transfer merry go round will be in full swing during the summer. Who will be securing new contracts, who will be on the move and will the Scots Abroad be getting any new members?
A full summary of the new structure and its implications, from a Scottish perspective off course, will be the focus of the next article along with a summary of how the Scots Abroad are performing in Sweden and the rest of the world.
