Celtic PLC held our annual general meeting yesterday, where many interesting points were discussed relating Celtic FC Women…
Shareholders were welcomed to the Kerrydale Suite on Wednesday with the four trophies the club won last season being on full display, those trophies being the men’s treble plus of course the Women’s Scottish Cup.
The board, plus Brendan Rodgers and Fran Alonso, were all present and took questions from the floor. Of course, Celtic FC Women were brought up and we have some interesting developments to discuss. From training ground investments, to transfer targets, here are my takeaways from the AGM…
Barrowfield redevelopment to begin in December
Earlier in the year, Celtic’s plans to redevelop the Barrowfield Training Centre were approved, and it was revealed that the club would be putting in significant investment to turn it into a state-of-the-art training complex. The new Barrowfield will be used by the women’s team and academies, whilst the men’s first team and B team will remain at Lennoxtown.
The plans for the building revealed that it will feature an indoor arena, a combination of outdoor natural grass and artificial pitches, gym and fitness facilities, officers for the academy and women’s team, new changing rooms, medical areas, a sports science centre, an analysis centre, and classroom facilities.
It was revealed during the AGM that work is set to begin on Barrowfield in December and it is estimated that it will take around 12 to 15 months to complete.
When the plans were first made public, Celtic FC Women manager, Fran Alonso, said: “I am very excited about the Barrowfield development plans, I believe this new facility can be huge for the women’s team and a real game changer.
“The facility will allow for all-weather training with the best of resources and will provide the first team and girls’ academy with a great new dedicated base where we can develop further.
“I know the team continues to inspire so many young girls through their play and their achievements and we now want to do all we can to reach for higher levels. We have enjoyed some real success in the last few years and we are all committed to taking this team even further. The new facilities which the club are developing will be crucial in achieving this.”
Striker is a number one transfer target
Fran revealed that his number one target for the next transfer window is a striker. As things currently stand, we have three dedicated strikers over the age of 18. Amy Gallacher, Kit Loferski, and Murphy Agnew.
We could definitely do with another striker – as The Celtic Star has been saying for weeks – especially now that Loferski has been spotted wearing a moon boot after our match against Hamilton Accies. And if there’s one thing we know about Fran, it’s that he likes to have depth in his squad, and like we’ve said before, the squad could do with some strengthening in January if we are to prevail against theRangers this season, so this is welcome news.
Determined to win the SWPL
Fran spoke about how he wants to win the Scottish Women’s Premier League, which he has a chance of doing this season. As things stand, we are one point behind theRangers in the table. The good news is that we are one ahead on goal difference.
With Glasgow City quickly falling out of the title race, we need to ensure that we do everything in our power to keep up with our city rivals. It seems as though Fran feels the same way and will be pushing his squad forward in hopes of bringing the SWPL trophy to Celtic Park for the first time in our history. The January transfer window will be vital to determining whether Alonso can deliver his first SWPL1 title for the club, the only one of the three domestic honours that have alluded him so far.
Playing at Celtic Park last season
The manager spoke about how amazing it was to have over 15k people attend a women’s game at Celtic Park last season. Hopefully someone with power took notice, as a lot of fans are pushing for our semi-final league cup tie against theRangers to take place at the stadium, assuming there are no scheduling issues.
Fran has received some backlash on X, with one fan saying: “Did someone remind Fran that was only made possible with the support of the banned fans?” Not sure of the point in directing anger towards Fran Alonso as he is not involved with the ban on the Green Brigade and has no say on the matter.
Although I can’t speak for him, I would guess that he is appreciative of all the support that the Ghirls got last season, no matter who it was organised by. He has not made his support for either side of the argument public (as far as I’m aware), so it feels unnecessary to drag him into this debate.
And while the support at the two games at Celtic Park was brilliant but what about the turn-out of Celtic supporters at Hampden for the Scottish Cup Final? And also, the Green Wall experience was a demonstration of what the North Curve wanted to achieve. A showcase that was certainly successful but that was the ultimate intention rather than the support of the team, which was secondary. Just saying.
It was amazing to have so many people come to Celtic Park last season to support the team, and I’m sure it inspired a lot of people to come along when we lifted the Women’s Scottish Cup at Hampden. It would be fantastic to see the women take to the Paradise pitch again, and hopefully we will see them return by the end of the season.
Jessica Elliott
