THE historic first five-figure attendance for an SWPL match looks set to materialise at Easter Road this afternoon. By Friday over 12,000 tickets had been accounted for, and even allowing for the inevitable no-shows a new record will be set for the first Capital Cup encounter.
The corresponding fixture in September last year drew the current SWPL top crowd of 5512, and a community engagement project with an Edinburgh fund manager has allowed both Hibernian and Hearts to continue to offer free tickets to their fans. All four sides of the stadium will be open and occupied.
Although they have fallen off the pace in the league in the last two seasons, Hibs have been trailblazers in using their main club ground to stage women’s games. Easter Road was the venue for their Champions League last-32 game against Bayern Munich in 2016, with a crowd of 2551 inside the stadium at a time when women’s football was predominantly watched by family and friends.
While free tickets are obviously a contributory factor, it’s interesting that Hibs are the club which continues to raise the attendances bar. Head coach Dean Gibson said: “I think it goes back to the groundwork that has been done for so many years.
“The Hibs women’s team has always been visible and competitive. For Celtic and Rangers it’s maybe going to take them the next five or six years to keep winning trophies and playing in the Champions League and then the fans might buy into it.”
Hearts, who were in SWPL 2 until they were promoted at the end of the 2019 summer season, are two places ahead of their Edinburgh rivals in the league but Hibs have recovered from a difficult start to the season.
Hearts head coach Eva Olid said: “Hibs have invested a lot in women’s football from a long time ago. Hearts are doing it now.
“It’s good for the league to have more competition and I hope more clubs can invest in women’s football.”
And another thing
HEARTS forward Katie Rood says she “absolutely” hopes to be in New Zealand’s World Cup squad. The 30-year-old has been overlooked since last November, two months after Jitka Klimkova replaced Glaswegian Tom Sermanni as head coach.
Rood has played 15 games for her country, scoring five goals. But she again remained in Edinburgh for the recent double-header against South Korea, games in which Rangers goalkeeper Vic Esson captained the side, Celtic’s Olivia Chance scored a goal, and Glasgow City’s Meikeyla Moore also played.
Born in Middlesborough to an English mother and New Zealand father, Rood’s family moved to his homeland when she was three. She relished the sporting culture in Whangarei on the North Island, playing rugby, cricket, hockey and football before having to make a choice between the latter two.
“I really wanted to play for New Zealand, and I saw the opportunity there with both football and hockey,” she pointed out, “but if I looked at the global picture football gave more opportunities to see the world and make a living from it. So I decided to pursue football and see where it took me, and here we are.”
Rood’s first opportunity was unusual to say the least. Juventus formed a women’s team in 2017 and, at the age of 24, she found herself on a flight to Italy.
“That was an incredible chapter,” she confirmed. “I hadn’t quite broken into the national team at that stage. The whole flight I was just staring out of the window – this kid from New Zealand going out to play for Juventus.”
As it transpired, game time in her only season at one of Europe’s biggest clubs was extremely limited. “You were living out your dream but not actually playing,” Rood said of her Italian experience. “That was the most disappointing aspect.”
The New Zealander did, however, depart with a Serie A winners’ medal. She then played for Bristol City, Lewes and Southampton in the English Championship before signing for Hearts in the summer.
Today’s game at Easter Road will be a welcome return to a grass pitch for a player who much prefers that surface. She played in front of 5000 fans when Southampton played Portsmouth but is really looking forward to her first big Scottish derby match, having been told of the rivalry between the two clubs.
So far Rood, who is a climate champion with the Football for Future charity, has scored two goals and starts some games in midfield. But she has resumed a profitable playing relationship with Hearts top scorer Georgia Timms – they also played together for Lewes.
