THEY are calling themselves the Daughters of Scotland and the tune of that name is fast on the way to becoming the Flower of Scotland of women’s football.
The song will also be the anthem for Scotland’s women’s team when they take the field against England in Utrecht in the Netherlands tonight.
It will be a historic event for the women’s team as it is their first appearance in a major finals – the men haven’t been to one since 1998.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is a strong supporter of the team coached by Anna Signeul and is believed to be heading to Utrecht to cheer them on.
The women’s success in recent years has also inspired more Scottish women and girls to take up football.
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New figures showing that the total number of female footballers in Scotland has more than doubled in the past six years are revealed by the SNP today. Provided by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, they show that the number of registered female players in the game – including girls playing in Scottish Youth Football and Scottish schools – has leapt from 5541 in 2011-12 to 12,885 in 2016-17.
Welcoming the news, SNP MSP Maree Todd said: “The number of women and girls playing football more than doubling in six years is really positive news for the game and for women’s sport in Scotland.
“The fact that we get this news today – when the nation looks forward to Scotland’s opening match v England in the Uefa Women’s Euro 2017 finals in the Netherlands – makes it even more worthy of celebrating.
“Regardless of the score today, or indeed the results in the other games versus Portugal and Spain, Anna Signeul and the Scottish women’s team are already big winners.”
Team captain Gemma Fay – winning her 201st cap as goalkeeper, a Scottish record for either gender – was trying to play down the significance of the match being a Scotland-England clash.
She said: “As a one-off game, it’s a fantastic occasion to be part of and it’s something that any player who ever wants to play for Scotland or England wants to be part of.
“But first and foremost it’s an opening match at a major championship and that’s how we view it. The rivalry is not going to overshadow what we’re here to do and that’s to go out and look to win this first game at the European Championship.”
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