news now: Review of Celtic FC season, which went from turbulence to success
As the Celtic FC Women season draws to a conclusion, I felt it was appropriate to take a moment to reflect on what has turned out to be an incredible season for our Ghirls in Green.
The pivotal milestones that shaped our 2023–24 season were singing You’ll Never Walk Alone while holding the SWPL1 championship and our incredible 9–0 opening match victory over Montrose.
We defeated Montrose 9 to 0 to start the season. With four goals from Kit Loferski, three of which came in the first half, we were well on our way to victory. In addition to the eight goals we had scored ourselves, Chloe Craig, Imane Addi, and Amy Gallacher added to the hosts’ suffering. Montrose had a forgettable day.
Kelly Clark, our captain, scored the goal that gave us our first-ever win in the Women’s Champions League, sending Celtic fans reeling. In order to prevent Brondby from tying the score late in the game, the defender cleared the ball off the line.
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!
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.