One of the best squads ever!

For the third time in four seasons Hibernian Ladies have been crowned champions of Scotland. The girls 5-0 victory over Kilmarnock Ladies clinched the Scottish Women’s Premier League title and gave the club a dream double as it followed on from last weekend’s victory in the Amicus Scottish Cup final.

Under the guidance of Iain and Paul Johnston the ladies have now claimed seven major honours in the last five seasons and are the major force in Women’s football in Scotland. As Scotland’s champions, Hibernian will now compete in next seasons UEFA Cup, entering at the first round group stage and the girls will be looking to progress this time around.

Manager Iain Johnston was pleased with his sides performance against former champions Kilmarnock on Sunday, commenting: ”The girls played excellent on Sunday against Kilmarnock, they controlled the game from start to finish, passed the ball well, retained possession for long periods of the game and scored some excellent goals.” The manner of the girls' victories is what pleases Iain the most and once again on Sunday they performed like the champions they are.

Iain said: ”The fourth and fifth goals especially were particularly pleasing, the fourth was an excellent strike from outside the box by Julie Ferguson and the fifth was the best of them all, great build up play starting from Jo Hutcheson in goals, five passes later and Kirsty McBride played an excellent low cross across the face of goal and Suzanne Grant made a great run in front of her marker to tap the ball home.”

”That goal summed our performances in the last third of the season, we hit form at the right time and the last 8-9 games have been a joy to watch, this has made my job easier in team talks but much more difficult in team selections. Some of those matches in the run have been difficult but the girls' fitness, determination and ability saw them through comfortably in the end.”

Last summer Hibernian lost a number of key players and this led to many doubting the club could retain their title but they have done and in some style too! This is of personal satisfaction for Iain as he said: ”Other clubs doubted Hibs credentials this season but not anymore, 21 league games played and 21 wins speaks for itself, we have also been in the two major cup finals of the season and along with being Scotland's representative in Europe this season, Hibs have had an excellent and rewarding season. This is one of the best squads I have ever worked with and hopefully they can go on to an even bigger stage and get through the group stages of the UEFA cup next season.”

Hibernian have lost only a single game this season, back in November when they were defeated 4-1 in the Premier League Cup final and it is a defeat that still hurts Iain. ”It is a great feeling to have achieved the double, only disappointment in an otherwise excellent season was the poor performance we had in the League Cup Final away back in November.”

Having now won 21 games out of 21 in the SWPL, Hibernian are just 90 minutes away from a 100% league record as they face runners up Glasgow City and it is incentive if any are need for Hibs. Iain commented: ”This Sunday though we still have the added incentive to win our remaining league game against Glasgow City and go through the whole league campaign with a 100% record, hopefully a lot of people will turn out this Sunday at Dalkeith Juniors to see Hibs being presented with the League trophy and hopefully finishing off what has already been an excellent season.”

Why not show your support for the girls’ achievements and give them your backing against Glasgow City this Sunday in Dalkeith. After the game Hibernian Ladies will be presented with the Scottish Women’s Premier League trophy.

Supporters are reminded that the Club Store at Easter Road will open be open between 8am and 6pm on Thursday 31st May to accomodate the launch of the new away kit. In addition the store will be open on Sunday 3rd June from 11am to 4pm.
 

Richard Payne