THINGS are going so well for Joelle Murray at the moment that she could barely have scripted it any better.
Just two weeks ago, Scotland’s women’s football team made history by qualifying for Euro 2017, which will be their first-ever appearance at a major championship. Murray was part of the team which defeated Iceland 2-1 in Reykjavik to finish off their qualifying campaign in impressive style and the 29 year-old can barely contain her joy that the continual improvement of the national squad has been rewarded.
“This is huge for us – it’s something that we’ve been working towards for so many years so to have finally qualified in this campaign is amazing,” the Hibs player says. “It makes all of the 6am starts and the hard training sessions worth it. All the girls were just delighted when we got across the line.”
Scotland’s qualification for Euro 2017 is all the sweeter in light of the narrow major championship play-off defeats that they have suffered in recent years.
Getting so close did, admits Murray, give the team confidence that they had the ability to make it to a major championship at some point but the midfielder also admits that she feared that it may come after her international career was over.
“Our progression has been fantastic and you can see the steps that we’ve taken towards qualification,” Murray says. “We always knew we could do it, that it was just a matter of time because the squad is so talented.
“There was mixed emotions when we came so close to qualifying in the past – it gave us confidence but then there was the other side of it too, wondering when we were going to actually do it.
“For us older players, there was a bit of a sense of – is this going to happen while we’re still in the team or are we going to retire and then it’ll happen in the future. So it was such a relief that we’ve managed it during our playing careers because we’ve been wanting it for so long.”
Murray is still on a high from Scotland’s achievement but she has had little time to relax and enjoy the moment.
On Wednesday, Murray will captain Hibs Ladies in their first Champions League tie for almost a decade and they are being thrown in right at the deep end. The Easter Road side will take on Bayern Munich with the first leg at home and the second leg a week later in Germany.
Bayern Munich are reigning German champions and so Murray is well aware of how tough the tie will be for her team. It’s a challenge that she is very much looking forward to, though.
“There’s no doubt that it’ll be very tough because they’re Bundesliga champions for the last two years and their team is littered with international players but we’re looking forward to it,” Murray says.
“The games are coming thick and fast at the moment but we’d all rather be involved in these matches than not so it’s very exciting. This is huge for Hibs – there’s no question that this is the best group of players that I’ve ever worked with at the club so it’s great to see that talent being rewarded with this success.”
For Murray to suggest that this is the best Hibs team that she has played in is quite a statement considering that she has been at the club since she was 12 years-old. As a life-long supporter, she admits that never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that she would be in this position.
thein this success, especially being a Hibs supporter myself and it’s really unbelievable to be captaining the team,” Murray says. “It’s something you dream of when you’re coming through the youth teams but it’s something that I didn’t think would ever be possible.
“When I was a kid, I never, ever thought I’d be here. If you’d told me that I’d be captaining the team at Easter Road on a Champions League night against Bayern Munich, I would have never have believed you so to do it will be just unbelievable.”
Despite the success that Murray has been a part of over the last year, it has not all been plain sailing for the midfielder.
A serious hip injury left her sidelined for several months at the start of 2016 but even during the dark periods, she almost always had faith that she would be back to her best.
“It was hard when I was out but you just need to push through it and be mentally tough,” she says. “I definitely had days when I wondered if I would ever get back running or kicking a ball again but I was really focused that I was going to get back to fitness.
“It’s taken me by surprise how quickly I’ve managed to get back playing well, though – I’ve been playing more minutes for the national team than I ever have before so that’s been great.
“I absolutely love football and it’s certainly not something that I’m going to give up until my body tells me that I absolutely can’t do it anymore.”
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