Celtic have not one but two semi-finals this month. When Ange Postecoglou gets his players back from international duty it’s straight into a run of huge matches starting of course with the Premier Sports League Cup semi-final at Hampden against St Johnstone on Saturday 20 November. Tickets for that semi-final are on general sale now incidentally and there’s more details on this, plus prices etc at the official Celtic website.
Before that there’s the SWPL Cup semi-final this weekend at Forthbank Stadium in Stirling with the two semi-finals happening at the same venue, one after the other. Supporters can get to see both games if they like for their admission money or simply attend our match which kicks off at 4.30pm.
First up will be the noon kick-off between Glasgow City and Spartans with the current SWPL Champions being huge favourites to win that one and go forward to the Final which will be played at Partick Thistle’s Firhill stadium on Sunday 5 December.
By the time Celtic and Hibs kick-off at 4.30pm they”ll know who they’ll be playing in the final if they can win the game at Forthbank. Today Celtic manager Fran Alonso and wing-back Jodie Bartle spoke to the media ahead of this semi-final at a media conference held by the SWPL at Hampden.
The Celtic Star was there and asked Fran Alonso what it would mean to him personally to win against Hibs on Sunday and then to lead Celtic out in a Cup Final next month. And we wanted to know how he can reflect on the team’s remarkable 25 game unbeaten run which came to an end at the weekend. There’s some disappointment on that but plenty of pride in the way his Celtic team has given him absolutely everything possible in their performances since he arrived at the club.
We also asked Fran for an injury update after the weekend set-back and he conformed that Sarah Harkes is now fully fit, a a spell on the sidelines, Izzy Atkinson came through her appearance from the bench at the weekend and is fine and while there’s some concern over goalkeeper Chloe Logan she should make it for Sunday’s semi-final.
Last week Jodie Bartle in an interview on Celtic TV was joking about struggling to understand some of her teammates Scottish accents. We asked her about that and also about one teammate who she has no trouble understanding, fellow English Ghirl Charlie Wellings. We wanted to know how impressed Jodie has been playing alongside Celtic’s top goalscorer this season.
Like the rest of us, Jodie is a big fan of Charlie and highlights not her goalscoring record – which speaks for itself – but her brilliant work rate in matches.
Please note that both SWPL semi-final matches will be live streamed via the Scottish Women’s Football YouTube channel. If you can get along to Forthbank Stadium in Stirling on Sunday – a great chance to get to a Celtic fix during the international break – then entry is priced at just £5 for adults and £2 for concessions. Tickets allow for entry to both games.
Tickets are on sale for the 2021 SWPL Cup Final now @ https://scotwomensfootball.com/swpl-cup/ and hopefully we’ll be reminding you of that link on Sunday evening!
The recent matches with Hibs have been very close affairs, a stoppage time winner by Charlie Wellings gave Celtic a 2-1 win in the recent league match and at the end of last season through at Penicuik, a Caitlin Hayes header from a well delivered corner kick was all that separated the sides.
Hibs have a tremendous heritage in this competition having lifted the trophy on seven occasions and they are the of course the current holders. So it’s a competition that Hibs enjoy playing in and Fran Alonso will have to get his side’s heads up and ready for this challenge. Hopefully there will be a place in the Final for the Ghirls that’s well earned on Sunday. COYGIG.
WATCH Fran Alonso and Jodie Bartle speaking to the media, including The Celtic Star, earlier today. We’re last up incidentally…
