Hibernian Ladies face Glasgow City in the SSE Scottish Women’s Cup Final today (4pm kick-off) at the Superseal Stadium in Hamilton.
This will be the first final since SSE became the title sponsor of the cup and the first time in its history that prize money will be presented to the winners, with a prize money pot to be extended to the earlier rounds next season.
John Stewart, SSE Director of Human Resources, said: “SSE is incredibly proud to support women’s football and be an integral part of the huge progress the game is making. We are also delighted that Under-17 Scotland star and SSE Next Gen athlete Elena Santoyo-Brown will present The SSE Scottish Women’s Cup trophy at the Final, a reward for the commitment the young footballer has shown to women’s football over the past 12 months. Elena’s role is another first for the competition and will hopefully inspire the thousands of girls watching around the country to become involved in the game”.
Hibernian Captain Joelle Murray is looking forward to the game despite the recent defeat against Glasgow City in the SWPL.
Speaking ahead of the game Joelle told Hibernian TV: “It’s a huge test. We obviously just played them in the league which didn’t go to plan, but mid-season we beat them in the League Cup Final.
“I’ll just do what I always do on a matchday – give them encouragement and helping them before the game and during the game.
“Although I am the captain, we’ve got a lot of leaders on and off the pitch, so it certainly doesn’t just come down to myself.”
Teammate Abi Harrison said that she is hoping to replicate the performance in the SWPL Cup Final victory over Sunday’s opponents back in June.
The striker, who scored a hat-trick against Celtic en route to the showpiece final said: “It’s just about playing our game and really giving it our all, giving 100%. We did it last time, so we just have to do it again.
“Unfortunately we’ve not been able to do it in the league but hopefully we can do what we did in the League Cup.
“It was amazing to win the League Cup, especially the manner that we did it in with the last minute goal. It was something that we all wanted to do, a lot of the girls in the team hadn’t won trophies.
“It was really big and to overcome Glasgow City was a great achievement for all of us. It was a great moment.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
