Celtic women’s manager Fran Alonso felt the sands shift under his feet towards the end of the Scottish Power SWPL when a three-pronged fight for the title drew in attendances that compounded all expectations.
It says much that Alonso can still rhyme off the figure - 15,822 - when Celtic set a new domestic record for their home game against Glasgow City as they pushed the eventual champions all the way to the final moments of the season for the Championship.
This summer he has felt the changes ripple in his homeland as Spain have made it all the way to today’s Women’s World Cup final where they will come up against reigning European Champions England at Stadium Australia in Sydney.
“For the first time that I have ever seen, the women’s team have been on the front pages of the Spanish sports pages and the front pages of national newspapers,” said the Spanish coach.
“People have spoken of it in bars and in restaurants and cafes.
“It took a little time because of the time difference between Australia and New Zealand and Europe but the deeper they went into the tournament the more that interest rose.
“I am seeing that back in Spain and it has the same all over the world - every year the women’s game is attracting more interest.
“For us here at Celtic last season the numbers we had and that record attendance of 15,822 - I know it off by heart! - I couldn’t have dreamed of those figures even a year ago. “I am hoping that Spain go on to win the World Cup now. It would be amazing for me to see that. I will get to watch the first-half but then I have to switch off and switch on!”
The Scottish Cup final at Hampden as Celtic beat Rangers to take the Scottish Cup attracted doubled the crowd of the previous season’s final at Hampden with the domestic attendance record broken on three separate occasions, peaking with that crowd at Celtic Park for the City game.
However, the interest is a double-edged sword with a familiar tale playing out of more lucrative offers available elsewhere. To that end, Alonso was denied a summer as he spent the break preparing to plug the gaps that the loss of ten players left.
“The interest in the league towards the end of the season attracted attention from all over Europe,” explained Alonso.
“So we lost ten players where maybe we had expected to lose three or four.
“But I would never stand in their way.
“Some of the girls went on to treble their salaries at other clubs because there are more lucrative contracts in England where the league is much stronger.
“I am very happy for them that they have that opportunity.
“Our challenge now as a club is to protect ourselves so that when that situation happens we have players on long contracts so that we bring back revenue to reinvest in the team.”
His side got off to a statement start last weekend with a 9-0 hammering of Montrose which would suggest the recruitment of the summer has not weakened a side who will want to go that one step further this term.
“I knew we were ready,” he said. “Even though we have all these new players, I just sensed that we were ready.
“The challenge now is to push again because at Celtic we always want to be competing for trophies.
“Is it our year for the title? I cannot say that now but I can say that what we are aiming for is complete consistency across the board.”
