WHEN Anna Signeul was approached to be Scotland’s head coach, her initial reaction was to turn the job down. She knew the game here was two decades behind women’s football in her native Sweden – and didn’t fancy having to fight the same battles all over again.
Fortunately, the then Scottish FA head of girls’ and women’s football. Sheila Begbie, persuaded Signeul to change her mind. A game-transforming, if often bruising, 12 years followed, culminating in the Swede leading the country she came to love to a first major championship in 2017.
There was a reminder of Scotland’s place in the European pecking order when it was announced on Monday that Celtic had agreed to the transfer of striker Clarissa Larisey to top Swedish side Hacken for an undisclosed fee. The reality, as Fran Alonso acknowledged, is that the Canada internationalist is moving to a more professional, and certainly far more developed, footballing environment.
