10 to Watch in 2024

We've put our fortune teller outfit on and looked into the crystal ball to pick out five SWPL players and five Scots abroad that we think are headed for big things in 2024.

We’re predicting 2024 to be a big year in women’s football (an extremely safe bet given the last few years). Scotland is no different. With that in mind it is the perfect time to shine a light on some of the most exciting players related to our game, your pals will all be replying “you know ball” in the group chat once you drop the knowledge.

We’ve picked out five Scots and five SWPL players that you should be keeping your eyes on this calendar year. So, in no particular order…

Abbie Larkin

Glasgow City have lacked their usual attacking threat, but that may be about to change with the form of an Irish striker (history really does repeat itself, eh?). Larkin has had half a season to get used to the play style of her new club and adapt to life in another country and it is starting to show. Her performance in City’s 3-1 win away at Meadowbank the proof of that. Reminiscent of Clare Shine in those big title defining games against Hibernian, Larkin was unplayable.

With City looking for a strong second half of the season, and with Lovera’s season over due to injury, the 18-year-old is going to have a lot of responsibility on her shoulders. We’re backing her to rise to that challenge with her ability on the ball to dribble and pick out a pass, and ghost behind defences off it, in 2024.

Claire Emslie

With Hollywood FC Angel City a year older, expectations are rising, and rising to those expectations in 2024 will be Claire Emslie (we think). The 29-year-old hasn’t shown her best self in a Scotland kit for a while and last season was a mixed bag in terms of her club form too. But, she has been quietly putting up some very solid numbers for Angel City (joint second for assists in the 2023 NWSL season) that stands her in good stead as they move into season three.

Three goals and five assists in 19 games isn’t a small number, a goal contribution every other game is around the mark managers are looking for from a decent winger. But we know Emslie is more than decent. Behind those numbers are an expected goals figure of 3.7 and 39 key passes. Stats that signal Emslie could have had more goal contributions than she put on the board with some better finishing from herself and her teammates. It’s not just going forward that we expect the former Hibernian winger to show her stuff though, she was in the 81st percentile for tackles last season with over 2 per 90. She is key in Angel City’s press and that should serve her well as they get stronger and aim for the Shield/playoff glory.

Eilidh Shore

Despite not turning 22 until next week, Shore has racked up well over 100 appearances in the heart of the Dons midfield. Aberdeen themselves have progressed significantly in that time with the club now transitioning to a full-time set up and aiming to pressure, and eventually break into, the top six.

Shore is an archetypal defensive midfielder with the ability to play forward. She is often found working in the space ahead of the defence to break up play and provide that vital link between defence and attack. A quick glance at her passing stats show that she very rarely aims long with just 15% of her passes going long (with a success rate of ~33%). She’s much more successful playing short passes to progress the ball through midfield to her more creative counterparts. A really underrated skill in a defensive midfielder that, added to her passing, make her a real standout. It’s also a big year for the midfielder off the pitch as she graduates from university in the summer. Exams caused her to miss out on an under-23 camp in November last year, without that pressure her talent could explode.

Niamh Murphy

This isn’t the first time we’ve highlighted Niamh Murphy as one to watch, and we’re sure it won’t be the last. Last season she was named Blackburn’s young player of the season after featuring in every single game and the club moving to bring her in permanently after her loan from Manchester United ended. She’s had some injury issues to start this campaign but back fit and refreshed from the winter break we are looking forward to seeing her back in action.

The 20-year-old is an attacking left back that absolutely bombs up and down the wing like she is the Duracell bunny wiping the floor with the no-name brand bunnies in whatever activity the advert has them doing. The ideal candidate for the Scotland under-23s to have a look at in 2024 and, if things are going really well, a potential successor to Nic Doc.

Lucy Ashworth-Clifford

Celtic may be in a rough spot to start the year after Fran Alonso moved to Houston, but optimists within the support will be focusing on the return of a player that was legitimately off the charts before her ACL injury. LAC is one of the league’s most dangerous in wide areas, the attacking wing back has been in training since the end of 2023 and will be raring to get back to where she left off.

She may need a few weeks to get up to speed but when she does it is a scary proposition for her opponents. A pacey dribbler with exceptional crossing and chance creation to come into the final stretch as Celtic look to pip Rangers and Glasgow City to the title. There will be an element of how Elena Sadiku utilises her skill set, but with Celya Barclais not yet cementing right wing back as her own there is room for LAC to come back into the fold in a big way. With Sadiku herself having gone through serious injury in her career, we know LAC will be in good hands as she returns to exciting us down the wing.

Jenna Clark

Jenna Clark has taken to the WSL like a duck to water (a goose to terrifying kids may be a more apt description), Liverpool are building back their reputation from the 2010s as a serious title contender and Clark looks to be a big part of that. The perceived “step up” from the SWPL has been absolutely no issue for the Scotland international and it looks like we have our next long term centre back.

Attackers have really struggled to get passed her, the 22-year-old is in the 85th percentile for tackles and the 92nd for both defensive third tackles and dribbles challenged compared to other centre backs in the WSL. Simply put she is an immovable object for the majority of players that face her. Predictably her stats in the air are all exceptional, as we’d expect given her physical attributes. But, what we didn’t expect was for her to be excelling with the ball at her feet, she has added an ability to carry the ball. Attempting 0.7 take ons per game and finding success in more than half of them. Clark is developing into a real all round ball-playing cruncher.

Rebecca McAllister

In November 2022 McAllister became the first Hearts Scotland international since Shelley Kerr 11 years prior, however, she fell out of favour for Eva Olid’s side and only played 406 minutes last season before it was announced that she was leaving the club in the summer. The first half of the season came and went with no news, but then an announcement from Partick Thistle sent the hype train back in motion with the 20-year-old joining up with Brian Graham’s Thistle machine.

Having missed the first four months of the season it may take McAllister some time to get back up to speed, as well as needing time to get acquainted with her new club’s style of play, but we are very excited nonetheless. Thistle have built a reputation for their hard work, but McAllister adds a technical element that can change how they approach games. The club has also earned a reputation for developing players to challenge teams with greater resources than their own, with McAllister already capped for Scotland there is no telling where the ceiling is.

Jamie-Lee Napier

There’s no hiding that life at Bristol City is tough right now. Favourites for the drop with their relegation rivals throwing money at the problem, they are looking at a tough end to the season and life back in the Championship in the next (assuming there’s no major restructure in the summer). If they are to avoid that JLN will surely play a role. Deployed at left wing back by Lauren Smith, she is taking control of the narrative.

The prime example of her ability coming in a tight game against Arsenal where her dynamic forward play had her throwing in a pinpoint cross for Rachel Furness to take the lead. A shock suddenly on the cards where no one predicted it, she even had Katie McCabe trying to stat fights by frustrating the Gunners defensively. She has grown a lot since her first WSL spell and is completing two thirds of her take on attempts as well as putting up impressive defensive numbers. Certainly one to watch from an SWNT standpoint.

Jane Ross

This style of article is usually reserved for young upstarts but the 34-year-old from Rothesay more than deserves your attention this year. With Rangers’ attack scoring a scary number of goals already this season, returning to contention is a striker with 146 Scotland caps and over a hundred SWPL goals to her name. Real scary hours for SWPL defenders.

After a 17 month long recovery from the dreaded ACL injury she is back in action, racking up eight goals in four including a brace on her first start (Rangers’ first game of 2024 against Inverness CT in the Scottish Cup) and five against Dundee United. A complete forward to add to the goals of Hardy and Howat, and to help set them up as well. She’s got plenty of football left in her legs and is sure to be raring to make up for lost time with some important goals as Ranger hunt a domestic treble.

Eartha Cumings

A broken wrist put a dampener on an excellent start to life at Rosengård, but the 24-year-old should be recovered when the Damallsvenskan returns in April with a pre-season in the books for the 14 time Swedish champions. With the club looking to improve on last year’s seventh placed finish, a season in which they lost their starting keeper half way through.

She’s being coached by former SWNT ‘keeper (and all round icon) Shannon Lynn and is very highly thought of within Sweden, with some commenting that they may have gotten the better part of the deal that saw Micah leave Rosengård for Liverpool. There is an ongoing fight between Gibson and MacIver for the Scotland gloves, in 2024 Cumings may complicate that further.