Rangers W.F.C.

Last updated

Rangers Women
Full nameRangers Women's Football Club
Nickname(s)The Blue Belles
Founded2008
Ground Broadwood Stadium
Cumbernauld, Scotland [1]
Capacity8,086
Owner The Rangers Football Club Ltd
ChairmanJohn Bennett
Manager Jo Potter
League SWPL 1
2022–23 SWPL 1, 3rd of 12
Website Club website
Soccerball current event.svg Current season

Rangers Women's Football Club is a women's football team that plays in the Scottish Women's Premier League, the top division of women's football in Scotland. The team is the female branch of Rangers.

Contents

History

Paisley City Ladies F.C., formerly Arthurlie Ladies F.C., was founded at the start of the 1999–00 season. As a new club they started in the lowest division, the third. [2] In 2001–02 they played in Division 1, directly under the Premier Division, and stayed there until 2008. [3] In the 2007–08 season they suffered financial problems, and began to search for a partnership with another club.

Rangers L.F.C. was founded in 2008, as Rangers followed the example of Celtic, Hibernian and Aberdeen in developing a women's section. The formation of the team involved a partnership with Paisley City Ladies. [4] [5] [6] Former Rangers youth academy coach Drew Todd was brought in to coach the team. Scotland player Jayne Sommerville was signed as the new team's first captain. [7]

They took the place of Paisley City in the Scottish Women's First Division and many players switched too. [8] Rangers won the league in their debut season. [9] They also reached the final of the Scottish Women's Cup but lost 5–0 to Glasgow City; [10] they were the first side playing in a lower division to reach the final. [11]

Former East Stirlingshire footballer Scott Allison was appointed manager in 2010. [12] The club reached the Cup final again but were beaten 2–1 by Hibernian. [13]

In May 2011, Alana Marshall became the first female Rangers player to be called up by the senior Scotland team. [14]

In February 2012, The Herald newspaper reported that the financial crisis engulfing Rangers also threatened the existence of the club's women's section. [15] The team continued to operate, and ended the 2014 SWPL season with a second place finish, the club's best result so far.

Ahead of the 2018 season, the official name of the team was changed to 'Rangers Women' from the previous 'Rangers Ladies'. [16] In July 2019, the club announced a significant commitment to women's football by integrating their teams more fully into its operations and providing further financial support with the aim of becoming professional. To this end, the incumbent coach Amy McDonald was installed in a new position as Women's Manager, with former player and youth trainer Grégory Vignal appointed as head coach of the senior team. [17] [18] A few months later the team moved their home fixtures to the Rangers Training Centre in Milngavie following improvements made to its facilities, having previously been using New Tinto Park (home of Benburb F.C.) in the Govan area of Glasgow, near to the club's Ibrox Stadium. [19] In January 2020 Malky Thomson was appointed joint first-team coach alongside Vignal, [20] in June of the same year Vignal left the club Thomson was named head of the women's first team. [21] In 2022, an arrangement was reached to play home fixtures at Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld, due to capacity and parking issues at the training venue. [1]

Current squad

As of 17 January 2024 [22]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.Pos.NationPlayer
1 GK Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Jenna Fife
2 DF Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Nicola Docherty (captain)
3 DF Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Rachel McLauchlan
4 DF Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Kathryn Hill
6 MF Flag of the Netherlands.svg  NED Tessel Middag
7 FW Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Brogan Hay
8 MF Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  WAL Rachel Rowe
9 FW Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Kirsty Howat
10 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Rio Hardy
12 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Libby Bance (on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion)
13 FW Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Jane Ross
No.Pos.NationPlayer
14 MF Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Mia McAulay
15 FW Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Lizzie Arnot
16 DF Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Eilidh Austin
17 MF Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Sarah Ewens
19 MF Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Chelsea Cornet
21 DF Flag of France.svg  FRA Lisa Martinez
22 GK Flag of New Zealand.svg  NZL Victoria Esson
23 MF Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Kirsty Maclean
24 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Olivia McLoughlin (on loan from Aston Villa)
26 FW Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Jodi McLeary
28 DF Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  BEL Michelle Colson
30 FW Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Georgia Gray

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.Pos.NationPlayer
11 FW Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Megan Bell (at Heart of Midlothian until June 2024)
18 FW Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Laura Berry (at Motherwell until June 2024)
25 GK Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Megan Cunningham (at Partick Thistle until June 2024)
DF Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Jenna Ferguson (at Partick Thistle until June 2024)
21FWDFlag of Scotland.svg  SCO Mason Clark (at Hamilton Academical until January 2024)
MF Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Rebecca Taylor (at Hamilton Academical until January 2024)
29 MF Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Kayla Jardine (at Motherwell until June 2024)
MF Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Summer Laird (at Spartans until June 2024)
35 MF Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Lucy Inman (at Queen's Park until June 2024)

Former players

Coaching staff

PositionStaff
Head Coach Flag of England.svg Jo Potter
Assistant Coach Flag of England.svg Jay Bradford
Assistant Coach Flag of Scotland.svg Craig McPherson
Women’s and Girls Managing Director Flag of Scotland.svg Donald Gillies
Goalkeeping Coach Flag of Scotland.svg Daniel Tobin
Women and Girls' Performance Analyst Flag of England.svg Jake Boon
Sport scientist Flag of Scotland.svg Faye Bennett
Women’s and Girls’ Operations Co-ordinator Flag of Scotland.svg Sara Spiers
Kit Controller Flag of Scotland.svg Heather Renicks

Season-by-season records

Rangers Women F.C. seasons
SeasonLeague divisionPWDLFAPtsPos Scottish Woman's Cup SWPL Cup Champions League
2008-09 Scottish Women's First Division 1818008912541stRUn/adid not qualify
2009 Scottish Women's Premier League 114072027127thRUSemi-finaldid not qualify
20102284105253288thThird RoundQuarter-finalsdid not qualify
2011 207585150267thQuarter FinalSemi-finaldid not qualify
2012 2173113741249thSemi-finalQuarter-finalsdid not qualify
2013 2110385535335thQuarter FinalFirst Rounddid not qualify
2014 2113447124432ndSemi FinalFirst Rounddid not qualify
2015 2180133057246thThird RoundFirst Rounddid not qualify
2016 Scottish Women's Premier League Division One 2190123557275thSemi-finalSemi-finaldid not qualify
2017 2162133351206thSecond RoundQuarter-finalsdid not qualify
2018 2181123346254thSemi-finalQuarter-finalsdid not qualify
2019 2111193557344thQuarter FinalSemi-finaldid not qualify
2020 [23] 1100303xno competitionno competitiondid not qualify
2020-21 2116057610483rdno competitionno competitiondid not qualify
2021-22 272520971177WFourth RoundQuarter-finalsdid not qualify
2022-23 32246211191023rdRUWinnersRound 2
2023-24 Winnersdid not qualify

European history

SeasonCompetitionRoundOppositionResult
2022–23 UEFA Women's Champions League
Champions Path
QF Round 1 Semi-final Flag of Hungary.svg Ferencváros 3–1
QF Round 1 Final Flag of Greece.svg PAOK 0–4
Round 2 1st leg Flag of Portugal.svg Benfica 2-3
Round 2 2nd leg1–2 (a.e.t.)

Honours

See also

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