One year on from suffering a devastating ACL injury popular Celtic midfielder Sarah Teegarden made her most welcome return to first team action for Celtic FC Women, coming off the bench in a friendly match at Station Park. And the American star rounded off her day comeback perfectly with a lovely goal for the Hoops.
Sarah admitted she was fighting back the tears as she came on to the park and was full of praise for her Celtic teammates for the way that they have rallied around to encourage and support her after suffering that devastating injury last March.
“It’s tough to put it into words,” Teegarden told Colette Carr at Celtic FC Women’s official website. “It was just a surreal moment and a lot of joy having all the team around me. Knowing how hard of a year it was and having the team beside me and going through all the ups and downs of my recovery, and especially recovery during a pandemic, it was definitely not easy. So there’s a lot to enjoy and I’m just full of happiness,” Sarah said.
“It’s always a good story to get a goal after an ACL in your first minutes. We talked and joked about and I didn’t think it would actually happen, but I had some hope and I believe we may have manifested it just a little bit, because we talked about it so much!
“I feel good. It was nice going in towards the end because people are maybe a little fatigued but the game’s got a rhythm so I can assess and jump in comfortably. I felt comfortable which was really good, not just with the goal but being able to move and connect with my teammates again like I haven’t just missed over twelve months.
Crying!! 😭😭 Soooo good to have this girl back on the pitch, an amazing player and an even better person. So proud of you Tee 💚 @SarahTeegarden7 https://t.co/bvXnUjUCDT
— Sarah Ewens (@sarahewens19) March 29, 2021
“It honestly felt like I just slotted right back in and that’s down to the girls and how much they’ve made me feel comfortable coming back and my transition into contact, so it’s been really good.”
Despite being out for an entire year the 25 year-old has actually only missed seven games, as her injury occurred in the last match before the lockdown started last March.
“Probably since I got my op – that’s your motivation as soon as you’re recovering, you’re thinking ‘I’m going to need to get back in the game’ everyday that you’re in rehab,” Sarah said.
Teegarden’s return is a welcome boost to Fran Alonso and his squad as they look to get the better of Glasgow City and theRangers in the exciting title run-in. Celtic have the advantage of home matches against both title rivals with all three sides likely to have their eyes on the title.
“We’ve got the second half of the season starting and now we’ve got to win games and get points. We have Anna in there now too which is great, so I think we can have some very good rotations which is great.
“We’ve lots of talent for us in there and we’re all versatile which is huge, so we can play off each other easily. With all the back to back games it’ll be really good to have all of us. I know I won’t be right back in there just being back, but I’m going to keep working as possible.”
The biggest W of the season so far 🥺
What a way to mark your return to action after over a year out than with a goal @SarahTeegarden7 ✨
We're all so proud of you, Tee 💚 pic.twitter.com/rQiUfeQPBn
— Celtic FC Women (@CelticFCWomen) March 29, 2021
It's such a joy, for us to see 💚 pic.twitter.com/svNQ8DVzzU
— Celtic FC Women (@CelticFCWomen) March 28, 2021
