Hibernian vs Spartans | Official Matchday Programme | 18 October 2020

CLUB DIRECTORY Head Coach - Dean Gibson Assistant Coaches - Roddy Maughan, Neil Ross Goalkeeping Coach - Chris Flockhart Physiotherapist - Claire Rankin Masseuse - Laura Burns Kit Controller - Allan Todd General Manager - Stewart McGuire Secretary - Karen McEwan Chaplin - Catriona Lamont Marketing - Matthew Palfreyman Communications - Jack Donnelly, Struan Garvie Videographer - Dougie Penman

HONOURS SWPL 03/04, 05/06, 06/07 Scottish Cup 03, 05, 07, 08, 10, 16, 17, 18 SWPL Cup 05, 07, 11, 16, 17, 18, 19

CONTACT hibernianwomenmedia@gmail.com @hibernianwomen 0131 656 7062 Hibernian Community Foundation Easter Road Stadium 12 Albion Place Edinburgh EH7 5DG

PROGRAMME Editor - Matthew Palfreyman Contributors - Struan Garvie, Jack Donnelly, Dean Gibson, Joelle Murray Design - James Laing Images - Craig Doyle, Donna Dignan

NOTES FROM THE BOSS

DEAN GIBSON After his maiden campaign was cut-short at the beginning of March, the head coach is eager to get back underway.

T

here is just a buzz about the squad but we know Spartans are going to have the same.

Fom what I’ve seen this preseason we are in a much better position than we were at the start of the year. Back in February, we were still a team that was trying to gel and come together but now we are in a much stronger position.

We know where we are trying to get to, the players know the style of play that we are asking and we are a much different team than what we were in February. I’m fully confident that we can go and take three points from the opening game, anything less isn’t acceptable. We will also take that into the rest of the games this season.

We want to start off with three points, wins breed confidence and confidence breeds success. We need to build momentum into the key stages of the season but we need to get off to a good start and that starts today.

Preseason has served its purpose well. I felt sorry

“WINS BREED CONFIDENCE AND CONFIDENCE BREEDS SUCCESS. WE NEED TO BUILD MOMENTUM INTO THE KEY STAGES OF THE SEASON BUT WE NEED TO GET OFF TO A GOOD START.” for the players back in January because we had just come in and it was harder to organise things.

However, this time everything from the organisation right through to their performance has been brilliant giving us a platform to go and prepare for the season.

When we came back from lockdown and it was non-contact, we called that pre-preseason. It was about getting the legs moving but also gave us the chance to see how fit the team was. The players were still in good spirits but it wasn’t normal football.

The minute we were allowed contact again, the buzz about the group has been brilliant. They’d really looked after themselves throughout lockdown.

They came back and made our jobs a lot easier.

They were all really fit,

none came back with any concerns.

We told the girls that we can trust them to maintain that themselves now and we can use the Tuesday, Thursday, Friday sessions to really focus on team aspects. That’s been a massive bonus because you can see the difference in us from our first preseason game against Glasgow Women to the final game against Hamilton was night and day.

The standard and their understanding of what we want went up a few levels. Over the course of preseason it’s been good, the girls are a credit to themselves, they’ve made our lives easy by keeping themselves in such good condition.

THE CHANGING ROOM

JOELLE MURRAY The lack of football won’t have as impacted as many as it has the club captain as she looks forward to another exciting season.

P

reseason has been great, everyone returned from lockdown in high spirits and the willingness to work hard and learn has been evident.

It’s been a long time coming but after a few friendlies we are very much looking forward to the return of competitive games. The league will be more competitive this season with clubs resourcing their Women’s teams more than ever before.

It’s exciting for not only Hibernian Women but also for the league in general.

First up was Glasgow Women, with Hibs winning the game 9-0. We played really well. The bounce game the week before gave us a real idea on what we needed to work on. Already within a week there was a massive improve-

“WE APPRECIATE AND RESPECT SPARTANS’ STRENGTHS, HOWEVER WE WILL TRY AND IDENTIFY WEAKNESSES WE CAN EXPLOIT. IT’S ALWAYS A CLOSE, FIERCELY The team’s first 11-a-side game during COMPETED preseason was an 11v11 ENCOUNTER.” bounce game, after a

The final preseason game put the SWPL Cup holders up against one of the SBS SWPL 2 title favourites, Hamilton. This was the best performance of all the preseason fixtures, despite a tighter scoreline, with the game finishing 6-4 to Hibs.

For 80 minutes it was the best we’d played in preseason. Everything just seemed to click for us. Understanding our style, the pace we were moving at, defensively when Hamilton had the ball everything clicked.

Sunday can’t come soon enough, we appreciate and respect Spartans strengths, however will try and planned friendly against identify weaknesses we Newcastle fell through. ment around the team’s can exploit. It’s always a This gave Dean and the understanding. We took close, fiercely competrest of the coaches a confidence from that. ed encounter and I’m chance to see how we sure this one will be no had adapted to the style Next up came a home different. they’d been trying to tie versus St. Johnimplement and prostone, followed by a trip vided aspects to work north to face Aberdeen. on in the upcoming Over these two games, friendly fixtures.

Hibs scored a further 10 goals (6-0 and 4-0, respectively).

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SWPL1 LEAGUE TABLE & FIXTURES T

TEAM

P

W

D

L

F

A

GD

PTS

1

Celtic

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

Forfar Farmington

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

3

Glasgow City

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

4

Heart of Midlothian

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

5

Hibernian

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

6

Motherwell

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

7

Rangers

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

8

Spartans

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

OCTOBER 2020 18th

Spartans (H)

14:00 KO

Ainslie Park, EH6 5AY

NOVEMBER 2020 1st

Motherwell (A)

14:00 KO

Ravenscraig, ML1 2TZ

8th

Rangers (H)

16:10 KO

Ainslie Park, EH6 5AY

15th

Glasgow City (A)

14:00 KO

Broadwood Stadium, G68 9NE

20th

Celtic (H)

19:35 KO

Ainslie Park, EH6 5AY

6th

Hearts (A)

14:00 KO

Oriam Centre, EH14 4AS

13th

Forfar Farmington (H)

14:00 KO

Ainslie Park, EH6 5AY

Ainslie Park, EH6 5AY

DECEMBER 2020

JANUARY 2021 17th

Spartans (A)

14:00 KO

24th

Motherwell (H)

14:00 KO

Ainslie Park, EH6 5AY

31st

Rangers (A)

14:00 KO

Hummel Centre, G62 6EH

FEBRUARY 2021 7th

Glasgow City (H)

14:00 KO

Ainslie Park, EH6 5AY

14th

Celtic (A)

14:00 KO

K-Park Academy, G75 0QZ

21st

Hearts (H)

14:00 KO

Ainslie Park, EH6 5AY

28th

Forfar Farmington (A)

14:00 KO

Station Park, DD8 3BT

MARCH 2021 7th

Spartans (H)

14:00 KO

Ainslie Park, EH6 5AY

14th

Motherwell (A)

14:00 KO

Ravenscraig, ML1 2TZ

21st

Rangers (H)

14:00 KO

Ainslie Park, EH6 5AY

APRIL 2021 4th

Glasgow City (A)

14:00 KO

Broadwood Stadium, G68 9NE

18th

Celtic (H)

14:00 KO

Ainslie Park, EH6 5AY

25th

Hearts (A)

14:00 KO

Oriam Centre, EH14 4AS

Forfar Farmington (H)

14:00 KO

Ainslie Park, EH6 5AY

MAY 2021 2nd

DEBBI MCCULLOCH’S SIDE HAVE BEEN WITHOUT COMPETITIVE FOOTBALL SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR.

OPPOSITION FOCUS

SPARTANS FC We take a brief look into our oppnents for today, who were also the last side we came up against in competitive football.

S

partans enjoyed a decent campaign in 2019, finishing 5th in the SBS SWPL1, making it to the third-round of the SSE Scottish Cup and reaching the semi-finals of the SWPL Cup. Like ourselves, Spartans have been without competitive football since the beginning of the year. With football gradually returning over the summer and preseason games being introduced, Debbi McCulloch’s team have had some promising performances.

Their most recent friendly saw the Edinburgh side host Rangers at Ainslie Park, with the visitors winning 3-1.

LAST MEETING Hibernian 1-0 Spartans

Before football was put on hold, the Hibees’ one and only competitive game was against today’s opponents in what was the 2020 season opener. It was a tense affair, with neither side giving up many chances. However, in the dying moments of the match, Rachael Boyle met a Carla Boyce cut-back and fired into the back of the net, giving Hibs a winning start to a season we’ll never know the conclusion to.

YOUR TEAM

OUR TEAM

Acta Construction

Gary Cooper

Graeme Galloway

LEAH EDDIE

AMY MUIR

Brian McMonagle

2016 Hibs Supporters Branch

David Collins

CHARLOTTE POTTS

SHANNON MCGREGOR

Gavin Barrie

RACHAEL BOYLE

SHANNON LEISHMAN

Matthew Young

SIOBHAN HUNTER

JOELLE MURRAY

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RIA MCCAFFERTY

ELLIS NOTLEY

Sponsor available

SOPHIE ALLISON

EMILY MUTCH

OUR FIRST TEAM PLAYERS AND STAFF WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND A WARM WELCOME TO ALL OF OUR SPONSORS THIS SEASON.

Matthew Young

Sponsor available

Craig Douglas

Sponsor available

HANNAH SCOTT

Hibernian Women Supporter’s Club

Gwenne Jeffrey

COLETTE CAVANAGH

David Donald

AU/NZ Hibs Supporters

CHELSEA MCEACHRAN

KIRSTY MORRISON

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CARLA BOYCE

ADDIE HANDLEY

AMY GALLACHER EVE DONALD

Henson Projects

Triple R Industrial

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Contact Karen McEwan at kmcewan@hibernian.ommunityfoundation.org.uk or call 0131 656 7062.

SQUAD LISTS

HIBERNIAN SPARTANS Head Coach: Dean Gibson SOPHIE ALLISON EMILY MUTCH SHANNON LEISHMAN AMY MUIR SIOBHAN HUNTER CHARLOTTE POTTS LEAH EDDIE CARLA BOYCE HANNAH SCOTT EILIDH ADAMS SHANNON MCGREGOR COLLETTE CAVANAGH AMY GALLACHER ELLIS NOTLEY (C) JOELLE MURRAY RIA MCCAFFERTY CHELSEA MCEACHRAN RACHAEL BOYLE ROSIE LIVINGSTON ADDIE HANDLEY KIRSTY MORRISON

(GK)

1 13 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 15 16 17 20 22 23 26 27 29

¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨

Head Coach: Debbi McCulloch ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨

1 13 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 15 17 18 19 20

RACHEL HARRISON ALICIA YATES SHANNON TODD SARAH CLELLAND SIMONE MCMAHON DION MCMAHON BOBBIE BEVERIDGE MICHAELA MACALONIE KATIE FREW RONAIGH DOUGLAS BETH MCKAY ALANA MARSHALL HOLLY AITCHISON TEGAN REYNOLDS CALEY GIBB ROBYN MCCAFFERTY REBECCA GALBRAITH JULIA MOULTON ELENA SANTOYO-BROWN

NEXT FIXTURE MOTHERWELL VS HIBERNIAN, SWPL 1, SUNDAY, 1 NOVEMBER 2020 NEXT HOME FIXTURE HIBERNIAN VS RANGERS, SWPL 1, SUNDAY, 8 NOVEMBER 2020