Scotland’s First Minister admits country has ‘neglected’ women’s football | OneFootball

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The First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney, has admitted that the country has ‘neglected’ women’s football.

His comments come after Women’s Euro 2025, where England were crowned champions for the second straight time after beating Spain on penalties.

Scotland’s women’s team watched on from the sidelines after failing to qualify for the tournament in Switzerland.

England are in a strong place to achieve more success in the coming years after reaching three straight major tournament finals.

UK betting websites already have them as 3/1 second-favourites to win Euro 2029.

Things look tougher for Scotland though who have failed to qualify for the last three major international tournaments.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Swinney insisted that he is supportive of the women’s game, but that it has been ‘neglected’.

How Scotland have ‘neglected’ women’s football

Scotland First Minister John Swinney said women’s football has “not been encouraged as much as it should have been in the past” and there is a strong case for the country’s government to invest more funding.

Asked whether they will increase funding to help Scotland’s bid of qualifying for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, he said: “Subject to the usual caveats I have to put in, that we’ve got budgets to set and budgets to live with, I want to be as supportive as I possibly can be.

“Because the women’s game, it has been neglected. It has not been encouraged as much as it should have been in the past.

“There have been some tenacious women that have made the game what it is today, and I want to do everything I can to support it.”

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said it was up to the government to decide whether or not to invest more funding.

After pointing out the success of the Lionesses, he said: “Women’s football is really, really popular and growing in Scotland. So what this Government does choose or doesn’t choose to do, is for them.

“What I’m clear about is that if we are successful next year, then I want to make sure we are maximising participation in sport. Women’s football will be a key part of that. That’s something we’ll definitely take a look at.”

When Scotland last qualified for the World Cup, the government committed £80,000 funding to enable the team to train full-time.

How has the Scottish team performed on the women’s international scene?

Scotland have struggled on the senior international scene in women’s football.

The best success they had was qualifying for Euro 2017 and the 2019 Women’s World Cup.

Scotland picked up their first-ever major win at a women’s tournament at Euro 2017. They picked up a 1-0 win over a Spain side that included Alexia Putellas, Jenni Hermoso, and Mariona Caldentey.

However, Scotland also lost 6-0 to England and 2-1 to Portugal, leaving the tournament at the group stage.

At the 2019 Women’s World Cup, they played a thrilling 3-3 draw with Argentina. However, they exited the tournament after 2-1 defeats to both England and Japan.

Until now those are the only times that Scotland have ever played at major women’s international tournaments.

Scotland failed to qualify for Euro 2025, after a 2-0 aggregate defeat to Finland in the play-offs.

The country is expected to feature at the 2035 World Cup as hosts. A bid consisting of Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales is the sole bidder for the tournament.