Review of a turbulent to triumphant season for Celtic FC Women | OneFootball

As the curtains close on a historic season for Celtic FC Women, I thought it was about time we looked back on what has proven to be a fantastic campaign for our Ghirls in Green. From that fantastic 9-0 opener against Montrose to singing You’ll Never Walk Alone with the SWPL1 trophy in hand, these are the key moments that defined our 2023/24 season.

Opening Day Demolition

We kicked off the season with a 9-0 victory over Montrose. Kit Loferski got four goals, three of them coming in the first half, to put us well on our way to a victory. Chloe Craig, Imane Addi and Amy Gallacher added to the misery for the hosts, and with an own goal on top of the eight we’d scored ourselves, it was a day to forget for Montrose.

Fran Alonso was delighted with the victory though after the heartbreak experienced in the final game of the 22/23 season. In this opener, we truly showed how relentless our players can be and I think our first three points of the seasons certainly got Celtic fans excited about what was ahead.

Champions League limbs

We caused limbs amongst Celtic supporters as captain Kelly Clark scored the goal that saw us secure our first-ever victory in the Women’s Champions League. The defender put in a shift defensively as well, clearing the ball off the line late in the game to deny Brondby the equaliser.

Although our UWCL journey came to an end when we were knocked out on penalties by Vålerenga, Clark’s goal will live long in the memory.

Plus, Elena Sadiku revealed in an exclusive interview with The Celtic Star that she is eager to make progress with Celtic in Europe. So with a new manager, more players coming through the door and qualification secured, the 24/25 Champions League could be an exciting time for Celtic Women!

Changing of the Guard – Fran out, Elena in

Fran Alonso’s outstanding performance as Celtic FC Women manager, delivering two Scottish Cups, a League Cup and coming so close twice to winning the SWPL title, was always going to attract attention from elsewhere. So when American side Houston Dash came in for him he had a huge dilemma.

Ultimately though he couldn’t reject the chance to manage in the biggest women’s league in world football. Celtic were faced with a real headache in replacing the hugely popular Spaniard and fair play to whoever came up with Elena Sadiku to be the Celtic choice as new manager for the women’s team.

Draw on Derby Day at Ibrox

Another key point in our season came in February, when we faced theRangers at Ibrox, incredibly with Celtic fans being banned by the latest Ibrox outfit, for some nonsense reason.

Both teams were on the front foot, with Jane Ross and Rio Hardy coming close within the opening 20 minutes. It was equally as exciting for the Celts though as Shen Menglu and Amy Gallacher almost linked up brilliantly to open the scoring.

A goalless first half was probably one of the better results we could have hoped for come half time so no complaints there as far as I was concerned at the time. Tash Flint wasn’t about to keep the scoreline goalless though as she scored mere moments into the second half to the delight of the handful undercover Celtic fans, including myself!

After all, remember that Hoops fans were locked out a single day before the big game! Football without fans is nothing so let’s hope that theRangers got that memo for next season…

Unfortunately theRangers eventually did level the scoring through youngster Mia McAulay. A draw was a decent result on this occasion though as it allowed us to keep ourselves in the title race. Tash Flint scored a brace the next time we met them that saw us secure three points, so not a bad result looking back on it, especially considering we were away from home.

Amy Gallacher’s legendary goal

Of course, the biggest key moment in Celtic Women’s history is now Amy Gallacher’s 90th-minute goal that sealed a historic league title.

It looked as though we may have let the Scottish Women’s Premier League title slip away from us for a second year but Amy Gallacher had her say in the end. A ball from Shen Menglu found its way into the box and composure from Gallacher allowed her to slot it past the goalkeeper in the dying embers.

I would  be sitting here writing a very different article right now but thankfully, Celtic fans were given a reason to smile on that final day at Celtic Park.

Gallacher has had an amazing campaign this season, with 44 goal contributions in 30 league appearances. Those numbers are unprecedented and none of us could’ve predicted those numbers at the start of the season.

She’ll definitely play a key part in Elena Sadiku’s squad for next season and she’s made sure that her name is going to go down in Celtic history and she’s The Celtic Star’s Player of the Season, there is no doubt about that.

The Celtic Star’s unrivalled coverage of Celtic FC Women will continue next season.

Jessica Elliott

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