Celtic women deliver a boost for Scottish football via UEFA Champions League win

Celtic women faced a huge European task when they reached the UEFA Women’s Champions League qualification stages as SWPL winners from last season. It brought a battle to fight through two rounds of qualifying matches. They aimed to make history and reach the group stages for the first ever time. 

Thursday night saw Celtic women face Vorskla Poltava in their second leg, Round two qualification match. The Celts took a 1-0 lead from the first leg into the home tie. Although both matches in this round were being played in Scotland given the situation in Ukraine. 

It took the hoops until the second half to add to their goal tally. Two goals from headers from Emma Lawton and Shannon McGregor on 52 and 62 minutes gave them a 2-0 win on the night and 3-0 on aggregate. That takes Celtic women through to the draw on Friday for the group stage. 

Historic win for Celtic women boosts SWPL sides too

It’s not just a first for the hoops to reach that phase, it’s making history as a first for a Scottish club. Although Glasgow City did make it to the quarterfinals in a previous knockout version of the tournament. The Celtic women’s team has now matched their men’s side in reaching that stage in the Champions League this season. Unfortunately, Rangers women also matched their men’s side, by being knocked out in qualifying. 

There is a cash boost to Scottish football from this too. It’s nowhere near the men’s side earnings,  but the hoops women bank around €500k for qualifying. They will earn even more from the group matches. Solidarity payments of around £17k will also go to each of the SWPL clubs based on Celtic qualifying. That may not sound much but it’s huge to some of those clubs. 

Celtic boss Elena Sadiku only took over this summer but has made an impact. She has had some criticism over their early performances but this is a remarkable achievement. It’s believed that she’d been brought in specifically to deliver qualification. She’s certainly ticked that box on her target sheet. Let's see what the draw and the group games bring, exciting times ahead for the club.