If you know your history, Celtic Women’s first Scottish Cup Final

If you’re aware of your past…It was referred to as “The Scottish Women’s Cup Final” back then. Years passed before the event was renamed as “The Women’s Scottish Cup Final,” which is more fitting. The inaugural Celtic final took place on May 17, 2008, with Hibs as our opponents. This is what took place…

With no Celtic FC Women action this weekend,

let’s look at a blast from the past. The 2007/08 season, the Ghirls’ first season under the Celtic branding.

After finishing third-from-bottom in the old Scottish Women’s Premier League in 2007, Arsenal North were taken over by Celtic, who were looking to expand into the women’s game. At the time, we could have only dreamed of the success that the club would have, but everyone involved was hoping that better times were ahead.

Celtic were immediately allowed to play in the top division and that first season brought a lot of excitement.

Although there was not much to mention in the league, the big point of note came when Celtic made it to the final of the Scottish Women’s Cup in their inaugural season. Facing off against Hibernian, whose two-year-long unbeaten run the Hoops had ended earlier in the season, the Glasgow side were confident that they could bring their first piece of women’s silverware to Parkhead.

Johnstone, Quigg, Curley, Robertson, Seagrave, Stokes, Beattie, Love, Gemmell, C Murray and Malone were the names on the Celtic team sheet that day at McDiarmid Park. The Celtic subs were Crichton, Cunnigham and Findlay. All of them took to the pitch with confidence that they could quickly overcome Hibs.

There was a problem though in the fact that Hibs had been a top team in women’s football for some time, often putting up a fight against Glasgow City. One thing that comes with longevity is the ability to see opportunities that other teams may not, including defensive errors.

And that’s how the scoring was opened on that day. With no goals in the 90 minutes, the game entered extra time. Celtic were looking strong, but the team was starting to get tired, something that our opponent noticed.

As the tiredness kicked in, so did the mistakes. A ball was left loose inside of our penalty area in the seventh minute of extra time and Joelle Murray latched onto the ball, putting it past the Celtic goalkeeper to open the scoring. Just seven minutes later, Hibs midfielder Mandy Burns took advantage of defensive confusion from the Celts and struck home from close range to double her side’s advantage.

Despite the Celtic keeper playing well all game and making crucial saves to deny Hibs, the game was put to bed when Suzanne Grant sent a chip over her head. The ball found the back of the net, and although Celtic did get a consolation goal through Leanne Crichton, it was too little, too late.

“We love you, we love you, and where you go we’ll follow!” rang out in the half-full stand as a group of Celtic fans tried to lift the team’s spirits after the narrow defeat. And as we know, the fans did follow, and so did the success.

Back to current days, the Ghirls return to action next weekend with a visit to Petershill Park as we face Glasgow City. With only one point separating us and theRangers, we could be on the brink of a historic first SWPL title.

If it weren’t for the women who played for us all those years ago, we wouldn’t be the club we are today. So never forget them as we cheer the Celts on to victory!

The game was played at St Johnstone, 17 May 2008.

Celtic FC Women’s First Legend – Suzanne Grant 

With so much on the line, Celtic is urging all of its supporters to stand with the Ghirls. Your aid might make all the difference in what promises to be another exciting season finale and lead to the Ghirls’ first-ever SWPL1 championship.