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Morton Women off to a flyer in maiden season

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Morton Women have got their maiden Scottish Women’s Football League campaign off to a flyer by going unbeaten in their first six matches.

The Ton’s first ever senior female side recently entered the SWFL set-up in Division 2 West, the fourth tier of the league ladder, and kicked off the 2017 campaign with a 1-1 draw against Rutherglen on Sunday 5 March.

They have since gone on to win their next five fixtures, including a 4-0 win over then-league leaders Bishopton last Sunday, and sit an impressive second in the table.

Lead coach Laura Williamson has been thrilled with her squad’s start to the season and encouraged Ton fans to come along to matches at Notre Dame High School.

Laura, who is also Morton in the Community women and girls development officer, told gmfc.net: “Our senior team recently enterered the SWFL.

“We went about setting up by holding trials back in November last year. Forty players attended and we picked a squad from that, with 14 moving up from our own Under-17s.

“We played a few friendlies before Christmas to get them playing together as a team. Pre-season didn’t actually start until January and our season didn’t start until March.

“It’s a summer season that runs from March through to November, with a wee break from the middle of June to July with the Euros on, and starts back in August.

“We’ve just started so we have entered the SWFL structure at the bottom division. It’s regionalised, and from there you go up to SWFL Division One then SWPL 2 and finally the top tier, SWPL 1.

“Although we felt we have a talented squad here, going in fresh and not knowing much about the other teams meant we weren’t sure how we were going to fare.

“My philosophy is that we play good football: we want to get the ball down, we want to create chances, and we are going out and doing that and we are getting results. It’s working for us.

“We’ve got a good squad – a good pool of players with a bit of experience helping the younger players coming through and a good coaching team behind us as well.

“So, yeah, we’re faring okay. I think you need to set yourself goals and I think we can certainly set it in our sights to finish up near the top come the end of the season.

“We play at Notre Dame High School and it will either be a 12pm or 2pm kick-off. I’d definitely encourage supporters to come along and watch.

“We’ve actually had quite a lot of people at a lot of our games and that’s been really pleasing to see because it’s great to have that support behind you.”

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Laura was goalkeeper for the all-conquering Glasgow City side between 2007 and 2012 as they dominated domestic football and particiapted in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

The 37-year-old had intended to stick to the touchline but has been forced to pull on the gloves again this term due to a shortage between the sticks.

She explained: “I am playing occasionally. I played in goals on Sunday there because our regular goalkeeper is away to Camp America for the summer, so I’ve been back in the thick of it and played a couple of games.

“I have experience of quite a good level of football with Glasgow City. I’ve been really fortunate with the experiences I had at City.

“We went away to Serbia, Lithuania, Norway, Ireland, and Germany participating in the Women’s Champions League and we played clubs like Potsdam, Bayern Munich, [and] Frankfurt.

“I’m proud of what we achieved there. The club pushed boundaries and aimed high, with a commitment from everyone at the club. Staff, players, and parents all buy in and support.

“It’s a developing game and the opportunities the girls have got now are fantastic, night and day from when I was growing up.

“We have a full structure here at Morton with five coaches, Michael, Andy, Craig and Sean helping me out and we train three nights a week: Tuesday and Friday is football and Wednesday is the gym.

“There’s definitely lots of potential locally from what I’ve seen so far. There are a lot of girls out there who aren’t involved and we want to get them participating.

“And with the girls we’ve already got in the club there’s good potential and my job is to support and grow the structure we’ve got just now and push on and become a driving force in Inverclyde.”

 

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