Ambition Costs Glasgow City

Scotland still have a club in the Champions League and some male sides should pop along and see just what it takes to compete at the highest level. Glasgow City Ladies football team are not used to so much attention. Ahead of their first appearance in the knock-out stages of the Champions League, club manager Laura Montgomery welcomed the media and opposition, Valur Reykjavik, to their home ground of Petershill Park in Springburn today in brilliant sunshine. Being in the UEFA spotlight, the club have had to comply with the requirements of provision for media of the standard of the male Champions League. Montgomery expects at least 30 media packs to be handed out tomorrow when they usually just have the one journo attending their games. MNE are following the club for BBC Alba and will be bringing four cameras to the game much to the chagrin of Montgomery. Not the fact that the women's game is being given some much needed publicity but that at least one of the cameras will be trained on her as she suffers on the sidelines unable to do a thing once the players cross the white line.

 Glasgow City players train five nights a week, play on a Sunday and pay for the privilege. We wrote this morning about the overall cost to the club for success in being the first Scottish club to reach this stage of the Champions League. The expected £8,000 shortfall for the two-legged tie does not take account of the cash the women play each month, loss of social life, missed family gatherings and birthdays to meet their football commitments. The manager Eddie Wolecki Black is a hard task master and does not take any old excuse for missing training. Funerals just about get past Black but he wants to see the death certificate then next time the women posted missing turns up for training. The club is truly amateur in terms of payments etc but the attitude of all involved in professional. The sky is the limit as far as the women's game is concerned and if an amateur team can make the Champions League knock out stages without the support available to clubs linked to professionals clubs, just think what they could do with with a benevolent sponsor or two.The game against Valur kicks-off at 7:45 tomorrow night (Thursday 29 September) at Petershill Park. Tickets are £5 and £2 for children and concessions. Where else can you get Champions League football so cheap?

Source: FOOTYMAD

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