Hibernian Women clinch SWPL title under manager Grant Scott
- It's the first time the Edinburgh club has won the league since 2006-07
- Scott's side sealed victory on the final day with a 1-0 win away at Ibrox
Football Careers client Grant Scott has achieved an incredible feat this season by winning the SWPL with Hibernian Women. It’s the first league title for the Edinburgh side since 2006-07, and their fourth of all time.
Hibs won the league on the final day, having to avoid defeat at Ibrox against Rangers as second-place Glasgow City looked to overtake them. Hibernian came out 1-0 winners thanks to a goal in the 74th minute from 30-year-old Linzi Taylor, after a red card left Rangers with ten players on the pitch.
This is a special achievement for the Edinburgh club. They do not have the same resources that the three Glasgow clubs in the SWPL – Rangers, Celtic, and Glasgow City – have. Yet they took 31 points from a possible 48 against the four other professional clubs in the division (the three previously mentioned and city rivals Heart of Midlothian). Hibs went unbeaten against Rangers in all three face-offs between the two sides this season.
Scott took over at Hibs in 2023 and previously managed the team in 2018-19, when he led them to a cup double and second-place league finish. He has also managed Hearts Women, Glasgow City (as caretaker), St Johnstone Women, and Durham FC.
Speaking to the media after the title win, Scott said:
“I think the group of players we’ve got, we’ve pushed them to the absolute limit. There’s some broken bodies out there and some in the dugout, in the stands.
“I think for us in this kind of modern era of Scottish women’s football, that’s a massive achievement.
“We’ll digest it. We’ve got a lot of work to do now for the new season and I’m going to demand that these girls look for more. I think it’s just the start for us, hopefully.
“There was certainly a point, I think, before December, where we let ourselves down in a couple of games and we kind of felt the external world was almost waiting for us to trip.
“A lot of the players talk about going away to Rangers at Broadwood at the back end of December and having a great performance and a great result as a kind of turning point.
“Personally, I didn’t feel it but I thought what it did was it made everyone outside of us as a group take notice a little bit.
“We had to back it up in January when we played Glasgow City and then Celtic and the players did that and that, for me, compounded what I thought we could be.
“But there’s no easy games in that post-split, I think our record’s good and the players thoroughly deserve their spot at the top now.”
We’re delighted by Grant and Hibernian Women’s incredible achievement and wish them all the best in the coming seasons.
