When a football team goes through their entire inaugural season as double-winners with a 100% league record you would expect that to be big news … but can you name the team? That they then followed that up in a higher division with a season featuring only two defeats and finishing as runners-up … are you any closer to recognising them? Now halfway through their third season with another unbeaten record on the cards … take a bow Dundee United Women’s Football Club!
Women’s football is one of the fastest growing participation sports worldwide and the showpiece tournaments, like the World Cup and European Championships, now attract major sponsors and international live TV coverage. In Scotland, the game is growing apace but without the same level of promotion and media interest in the domestic leagues. There are currently 178 clubs and 410 youth teams registered with Scottish Women’s Football (www.scotwomensfootball.com) and the number of registered players stands at 5,681 at the time of writing, an increase of 113% since 2011! The credit for this impressive growth lies with an army of players, coaches, volunteers, administrators and supporters, quietly working away in the background, in virtually every community in Scotland.
When Justine Mitchell joined the board of Dundee United in 2013 she was following in the footsteps of her father, mother and brother in what was truly a family affair. As she recalls, “Dundee United ran in the family. My father, Eddie Thompson, had moved from Glasgow to Dundee after he got married, about 1965, and he chose to support United. When we won the league in 1982/83 there was a huge party in Dundee, the whole house was going mad, big celebrations and I remember thinking ‘I want a piece of that!’ I really did want to be involved and, the following season, I started going with my Dad – I got my first half-season ticket for Christmas! I went to every home and away game with my Dad until I was 18, then still continued to go to as many matches as I could when I was a law student at Aberdeen University”.