This time last season at a stage production of the Celtic Story, Amy Gallacher was beaming down from a screen ‘introducing’ herself to her great-grandfather Patsy.
She did more than just tread the boards on Sunday; the striker played a starring role in penning a whole new chapter into a very modern Celtic’s story. A 90th minute winner against Hibs delivered the club’s first ever SWPL title and made a significant piece of Scottish football history with Celtic the first club to boast a title winning team from its male and female sides.
Gallacher has admitted to watching her goal, the most important to date for the women’s side in its brief history, more than once but her sights are already set on what the follow-up is.
“I have watched it back every day and I probably won’t stop all summer!” she laughed.
"We were a bit frantic given the circumstances but at this club you never give up. Thankfully I got that one chance and put it in the back of the net. I have watched it back a few times and I actually lose the ball twice before I get it back and score.
“It is all a bit of a blur. I ran to the fans. I don’t remember what I did. But I just remember as a team with all the fans and backroom staff all celebrating together.”
Gallacher admitted that the family connection made the Celtic Park moment that little bit more poignant given the long association with the club.
Former Scotland striker Kevin, her second—cousin, tweeted that he wished his own father had been around to see the moment given what it would have meant to him.
“It makes the moment more special,” said Gallacher. “It is not something I think about playing for the club, it more so comes from fans but what happened at the weekend it just makes the moment all the more special for me and for my family.
“I signed for the club because I wanted to play here. I just hope we can keep writing more history by winning more things.
“It has been nice this week. There have been fans around the stadium wishing us all the best and congratulating us this week. It feel really special being part of the team at this moment.”
And the striker, who has netted 28 goals across all competitions this season, also revealed a congratulatory text from former manager Fran Alonso.
The Spaniard left for Houston at the end of December with Gallacher revealing that she wanted him to be involved in the celebrations.
“We have to be grateful for Fran and what he did,” she said. “I gave him a little message when we won because he done a lot for us.
“He was watching the game in America and it was nice to know he was backing us.”
Celtic will now head through the champions-path as they look to make an impact in next season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League. They had a taste of it this season for the first time but failed to qualify for the group stage of the tournament.
The challenge this year will be to go one step further and if successful there would be a strong argument for hosting the games at Celtic Park.
“We want to get to the next stage and see what we can do,” she said.
“One of my main ambitions is to play a Champions League game here with all the fans. I think that would be amazing for all of us and it would be a great moment.”
