Celtic FC Women – A sorry situation that’s turning into a shambles | OneFootball

Since turning professional in 2020, Celtic FC Women have emerged as one of the brightest lights in Scottish women’s football. Under the stewardship of Fran Alonso and, more recently, Elena Sadiku, the team transformed from part-time underdogs into genuine title contenders — earning admiration and respect both at home and in European football.

The Celtic FC Women’s squad on the last day of the 2024/25 season. Photo AJ (The Celtic Star)

Their first major silverware as a professional club came in 2021, when Celtic lifted the Scottish Women’s Premier League Cup, marking a historic shift in the club’s ambition. That momentum carried forward to May 2022, when the Hoops secured the Scottish Cup in front of a passionate record breaking crowd at Tynecastle — their first triumph in that competition.

In 2023, Celtic came heartbreakingly close to winning their first league title, finishing second on goal difference despite a stunning campaign. More importantly, the team qualified for the UEFA Women’s Champions League, putting Celtic on the continental stage and highlighting the scale of their rise.

View from the Director’s Box. Photo AJ (The Celtic Star)

Attendances improved, culminating in a record-breaking crowd at Celtic Park in the title showdown as Celtic FC Women won the SWPL 1 league title in 2024, for the first time in their history after a dramatic 1-0 victory over Hibernian at Celtic Park. The message was clear: Celtic FC Women were here to stay — ambitious, capable, and carrying the hopes of a growing fanbase.

But now, that momentum is not just under serious threat it’s completed stalled and the seems to be unfolding around a vacuum at the club after a horrendous second half of last season where the wheels well and truly came off.

Last season, Celtic FC Women stood on the brink of something special. Champions League football, and a team playing with a swagger and identity that had supporters dreaming of a golden era led by an ambitious young coach with a swagger about her, full of self-confidence and seemingly capable of walking the walk.

McAneny celebrates her second goal. Photo AJ (The Celtic Star)

That dream now feels a million miles away.

In the space of a few short months, the air of progress has been punctured by a domestic collapse, silence from the boardroom, a worrying huge exodus of players, and a head coach left asking the club to match the ambition of her squad and the support behind it while she sits in a TV studio doing punditry for Swedish TV on the Women’s Euros.  It a complete förödelse as they say in Sweden.

Let’s not dress it up. The current state of affairs surrounding Celtic FC Women appears shambolic. A förödelse not born from on-pitch failure, but from what looks increasingly like off-pitch disputes leading to indifference. And the frustration among supporters is real — and justified. Well that’s the ones still engaging – and all the work that was done on that front seems to have been flushed away and there’s only indifference left.

Noonan shoots. Photo AJ (The Celtic Star)

Not the View used to have a popular series called ‘They Embarrassed the Hoops’ and that is exactly what has happened these past six months at Celtic FC Women. This is Celtic Football Club and that is simply nowhere near good enough.

The evidence is damning. Almost half the squad that delivered success just over 12 months ago has left. Big personalities and key performers have vanished from the dressing room with little in the way of news surrounding replacements arriving. The pre-season schedule is under way, and yet the team, as it stands, would struggle to field a competitive XI — let alone a strong bench.

Where is the pre-season trip to a training camp in the Canaries as has happened previously. Last summer the Ghirls went to Sweden for team building. How did that work out?

Elena Sadiku, Celtic FC Women v Motherwell, Celtic Park, Sunday 18 May 2025. Photo AJ (The Celtic Star)

This summer, Celtic Women head coach Elena Sadiku made the high‑profile decision to step away from the team’s pre‑season camp to join SVT, Sweden’s national broadcaster, as an expert analyst during the Women’s Euro 2025 in Switzerland. It’s a move that sparked mixed reactions among supporters.

On one hand, Sadiku’s involvement brings prestige – her tactical insight on a major international platform reinforces her reputation and so the argument goes, reflects well on Celtic. Representing the club in a media role can help raise its visibility and attract interest. Aye right. Few if any viewers of Swedish television will have any knowledge of or interest in an SWPL side even if it is branded as a Celtic team.

However, many fans feel her absence from pre‑season is ill‑timed in the extreme. They argue that with a squad in transition—a number of players departed and new signings likely to arrive 9no laughing at the back)—the team arguably needed her presence to set standards, instil tactical discipline, and drive cohesion on the training pitch.

Ultimately, the decision highlights a tension between personal opportunity and team commitment. Whether the experience enriches Celtic’s campaign or disrupts its preparation will depend on how effectively Sadiku reintegrates upon returning and the squad responds in her absence.

Elena Sadiku, Celtic FC Women v Motherwell, Celtic Park, Sunday 18 May 2025. Photo AJ (The Celtic Star)

While some uncertainty lingers, there’s also been emerging evidence of a significant split dressing room. It is unknown then if Sadiku retains the support of key players but ultimately results and recruitment will determine loyalty.

However, this isn’t just about Sadiku, nor really about transfers, or the lack of them. This is about a lack of structure, a lack of professionalism, and more than anything, a lack of vision. It feels as if the women’s team, despite its obvious progress and commercial value, is being treated like an afterthought — tolerated perhaps, rather than embraced.

Fans can accept setbacks. We’ve all stood through thin times. But what’s harder to stomach is regression borne from neglect. And right now, that’s exactly what it feels like.

Manager Elena Sadiku, in her own composed yet clear way, recently laid bare the reality – Celtic’s women’s budget is not just below theRangers and Glasgow City — it’s reportedly close with Hearts and Hibs. That would be troubling at the best of times. But given the expectations now surrounding the side, and the level of competition we aspire to match, it borders on neglect.

The funding of the theRangers, who have the biggest budget, has come from a rich supporter who has agreed to write the large cheque to cover the entire costs. Nice.

Glasgow City meanwhile have corporate funding from a merchant bank which is available as they are a female only club. Otherwise they’d be goosed.

Celtic FC Women is entirely funded by the sums of money that they make in their commercial deals and so far this has worked well and Celtic FC simply provide facilities but no financial backing – ever.

Here’s the thing those commercial deals were in place last season, but Sadiku got Celtic through to the Group Stages of the Champions League where the guaranteed revenue was £400k – that’s a massive amount of money in women’s football in Scotland that when added to the usual commercial revenues (if they are still in place) should push Celtic further ahead of all other clubs in the league – so where has this money gone?

Certain not on players with TEN first team players leaving already and just ONE new signing being announce, the return of Lisa Robertson after she was deemed surplus to requirements last summer before moving to Hearts.

A förödelse right enough.

What kind of message does that send to remaining players? To the coaching staff? To the young girls dreaming of pulling on the Hoops one day? To the few hundred season ticket holders?

While some concerns have been raised about player pay, it would be inaccurate to suggest that Celtic Women are being paid well below even the lowest earners in England’s WSL. In truth, salaries at Celtic appear to align roughly with the lower end of full-time WSL contracts and the FA Women’s Championship, typically ranging between £20,000 and £50,000 a year. However, this still places them significantly below the WSL average of around £47,000 and far behind the top-earning clubs in that league.

Domestically, Celtic’s wage structure is considered modest — reportedly on par with the likes of Hearts and Hibernian, but well behind Glasgow City and theRangers, who have both invested more aggressively in recent seasons from the funds coming their way. This pay gap raises questions about the club’s long-term competitiveness and its ability to retain or attract elite talent, especially as the women’s game becomes increasingly professional and financially driven across Europe.

In short, we’re asking players to win trophies on a shoestring, while telling them they’re lucky to be here. It’s not good enough.

Sadiku, to her credit, hasn’t shied away from these truths. She’s demanded more — not for herself, but for the team and the future of the women’s programme. But she can’t do it alone. And with key members of staff also departing and the pre-season rhythm arguably already stalling, the silence from the Celtic board becomes more deafening, and baffling, with every passing day.

This is about more than just football. It’s about professionalism. About parity. About living up to the principles we so often claim to embody.

It wasn’t so long ago we were playing at Celtic Park for the title decider against Hibs. A big crowd, but not as big as Fran Alonso pulled in a year earlier.  A chance to show what this club could be. The players delivered. The fans delivered. But where was the board, to build on that progress?

The danger here is not just another disappointing season. The danger is that Celtic allow a once-promising project to decay into irrelevance. With new league structures reducing the number of games for teams outside the top six, a poor season could also mean less exposure, fewer competitive opportunities, and further erosion of support.

Meanwhile, other clubs are investing — seriously investing — in their women’s teams. Whether it’s in Scotland, England, or across Europe, the direction of travel is clear. Women’s football is not a novelty; it is a rapidly growing industry. And those who fail to get on board now may soon find themselves left behind, irrelevant in both sporting and commercial terms.

Celtic face a choice. Either back this team with the same pride and investment we afford our other squads or accept the consequences of watching it falter.

Let’s be clear, no one is asking for tens of millions. But competitive contracts, professional facilities, staff support, and genuine recruitment planning are the bare minimum for any team bearing the name Celtic.

Michael Nicholson at Celtic Park. Sunday 18 May 2025. Celtic v FC Women v Motherwell. Photo AJ (The Celtic Star)

Anything less is a betrayal of both legacy and potential. And a wasted opportunity to dominate the women’s game in Scotland with doubles and trebles that have become the norm in the men’s game.

Niall J

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