Remember back in the days after Rangers FC was liquidated you’d hear all this talk about all the World Records that they were achieving. Not once though did Guinness World Records confirm any of their ‘chin-up’ claims…

Maria McAneny. Celtic FC Women. Photo AJ The Celtic Star

Today, perhaps rather unexpectedly, Guinness World Records showed up in Glasgow to formally present a Guinness World Record to a Celtic star. Academy graduate and now a full Scotland international, Maria McAneny received the prestigious accolade for scoring the world’s fastest ever goal in professional women’s football.

Away to Hibs back in December Maria line-up alongside Celtic’s Irish international striker Saoirse Noonan, ready to kick off the SWPL1 match against the current champions. The Celtic pair noticed that the Hibs keeper was well off her line and Maria told her teammate that she was going to go for it.

It sailed in and sailed her into the Guinness Book of Records but if that’s the fastest ever goal in World football in the women’s game then surely Saoirse Noonan should have been recognised for the fastest ever assist!

Maria McAneny, Photo AJ The Celtic Star

We’ll have to settle for just the one World Record today, officially awarded and presented ny Guinness World Records and sort of proving that they new Ibrox club don’t hold any at all. Smoke and mirrors as usual across the road.

Well done Maria who has developed into a leading player in the current Celtic FC Women team.

Here’s how Celtic reported on Maria’s very special day…

In what has already been a special season for Maria McAneny, the Celtic Academy graduate has delivered big performances time and again, contributing 13 goals and five assists, including a Goal of the Month award for December.

However, Maria can now boast of also being a world-record holder, with her stunning halfway-line strike against Hibernian back in December being recognised by Guinness World Records as the fastest ever goal scored in women’s professional football.

The moment came during the final SWPL game of 2025, as Celtic rounded off the year with a 2-1 victory over Hibernian in Edinburgh.

Almost unbelievably, Maria needed just 4.10 seconds to find the net, latching on to the ball kicked-off by Saoirse Noonan, with her wonderful strike beating the Hibernian keeper from over 50 yards – before most inside the ground even had time to catch their breath.

Speaking about her world-record goal, Maria McAneny: “There was no practice or anything like that, it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing.

“There was a Plan B, but I said to Saoirse that I’m going to go for it and thankfully it went in. It’s a great feeling, and it’s definitely not an achievement I ever thought I’d have. It hasn’t really set in, to be fair.”

Maria’s club form hasn’t gone unnoticed at international level either. A first Scotland call-up arrived in November, along with a debut goal against Ukraine, before she marked her first home appearance in March with a memorable strike against Luxembourg at Hampden.

The recognition has continued, with the midfielder named in Melissa Andreatta’s senior Scotland National Team squad for next month’s FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Belgium.

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