JUST eight miles separate the grounds where Glasgow City and Celtic will play their final Scottish Building Society SWPL1 games today. No need, then, for a helicopter should there be a final twist to this strangest of seasons.
As City lead the table by three points, the trophy will start the afternoon at Broadwood where the home side host Rangers. Should Scott Booth’s side lose, and Celtic beat Motherwell by the necessary margin, cars will whisk the trophy and presentation party to Airdrie.
It’s a dream scenario for the broadcasters, with BBC Alba covering the City-Rangers game and BBC Scotland streaming Motherwell-Celtic live. Adding even more drama, should in-form Celtic unexpectedly fail to win, Rangers will wrest the second available Champions League place off them if they beat City.
The only certainty is that City will be playing in Europe for a 15th time regardless of whether they finish first or second in the table tonight.
Football being football, Celtic beating Motherwell is not a given – but having taken 34 points from a possible 36 the momentum is with Fran Alonso and his players. The head coach has repeatedly said it was disrespectful for Celtic to be written off in the title race when they fell five points behind Rangers and City after only eight games.
Alonso has had the last laugh, but it wasn’t the five points which were the issue for those of us who took that view at the time. It was that Celtic had been an emphatic second best when losing their first and eighth games of the season to City.
At that point, and with Rangers having beaten City 5-0 in the seventh round of games, it was very difficult to see beyond the top two. The only point of dispute was which one would finish top.
The turning point for Celtic was their 1-0 win over Rangers at Parkhead on April 21. It was a smash and grab result, with Emma Brownlie in particular missing a gold-plated chance to put Rangers ahead, but Mariah Lee’s late goal was a season changer.
Full credit to Celtic, who have become a better footballing side while retaining their admirable battling qualities and passion. They will have a more suitable pitch to play on next season and, if Champions League football is confirmed, a bigger budget also.
Rangers, who lost all three games to Celtic and were beaten 2-0 by City in the second match between the sides, have been sunk by a dreadful record in the games that mattered. They could put a better sheen on that with a win today – yet still finish third in what was a two club race at the beginning of April.
“Next season we must take care of the big games,” head coach Malky Thomson confirmed. “It’s great that we’ve got the possession stats, dictate the play and control the game.
“But did we win the three points? No. That’s something that’s on me and the coaching staff.”
While winning the league would be a historic first for Celtic, it would be the latest in a procession for City. They will be without captain Leanne Ross, the only player to have featured in all 13 previous successive title wins.
Now just a month short of her 40th birthday, the right back has not been a regular starter for City recently. She was, however, in the line-up against Spartans last Sunday, but injured her knee and won’t be considered today.
City haven’t been at their best in the last three games, but a full week to recover from knocks and niggles will benefit them – as it will all the eight sides involved in today’s final SWPL1 games.
The City match is really hard to call. In some ways it’s a free hit for Rangers, who have nothing to lose and an unlikely Champions League place to gain.
Today’s showdown will be very different from the game which won City their last title. On a midweek evening in October, 2019, they hammered Motherwell 10-0 on what was little better than a public park in Wishaw.
Whatever the outcome today, there will be a real sense of occasion in a proper stadium. That’s progress.
AND ANOTHER THING . . .
WHILE all the focus is on the top league conclusion, SWPL2 will – finally – return following a near six month Covid suspension. There are eight rounds of games to be squeezed in before July 4, which is going to put a massive strain on amateur players and backroom staffs.
Two teams will be promoted, with Aberdeen very well placed to be one of them.
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