Introducing Rossvale and Ayr United
We welcome two new teams from the Championship for the 2024/25 season. We've taken a look at what they'll bring to the league and what to expect from the new kids on the block.
As the 2024/25 SWPL season is fast approaching we’ve been re-acquainting ourselves with the top teams in the country (you can find a breakdown of all 20 teams in this article). This season sees two new teams entering, promoted from the Championship into the SWPL set up.
Rossvale (of Glasgow) and Ayr United (of, well... Ayr) have joined the ranks of the SWPL and we’re on hand to fill you in on what to expect.
Rossvale
The 2023/24 SWF Championship Champions earned the automatic promotion spot in quite a commanding fashion, only dropping point on three occasions all season. Despite their record ,it still wasn’t all smooth sailing - it is the Scottish football after all.
They entered the split eight points clear of Ayr United (with only three games to play) Needing only one win to clinch the title. They proceeded to draw with East Fife and lose to the challengers, Ayr United. Making their final game of the season an unnecessarily tense affair, away to Inverness. They finally managed to get that win, a 4 hour bus journey home that we expect was a pretty lively affair!
The 23/24 season was their third go at getting promotion to the SWPL. Missing out to Gartcairn in 21/22, then losing an agonising play-off against Stirling Uni in 22/23. Rossvale have been building up to this moment, and they have now earned their deserved spot in the SWPL. This is only the start of their ambition.
Set Up
Led by manager Julie McSherry, and her team of coaches, Rossvale became a title-winning machine. Scoring 20 more goals than the next best team, and conceding the fewest goals as well.
Their foundation is built on a proper defence. Well organised and competent on the ball but also hard-hitting and commanding. Club captain Lynne Jackson is the beating heart of that defence, in a formidable partnership with Amy Allan. It’s no surprise they were two of the first players that were locked in for the 24/25 season.
In front of goal though, Rossvale play with a fluidity and freedom that saw them score 86 goals in 19 games. The two absolute standouts of their attack are Megan Whiteford and Jemma McQuillan - so impressive are they that they had to share the clubs player of the year award after developing such a partnership.
In the middle, Whiteford is as efficient as they come. 20 goals in 19 league matches, finishing as the league’s top scorer, as well as assisting McQuillan to a few goals as well. Out wide, McQuillan will quickly become a neutral’s favourite. Great pace, brilliant ball control, a few skills in the locker too, and an eye for goal. She scored 14 goals last season with plenty of assists on top. For the stats nerds out there, they contributed to 40% of Rossvale’s impressive goal tally between them.
What to Expect
Following Montrose’s success in the SWPL, expect Rossvale to follow suit by staying true to their values. That isn’t to say they’ll be as successful as Montrose, but they won’t be changing the style of play that got them promoted.
The ‘Vale have managed to keep hold of a lot of their title winning squad, and have added a good host of new talent. Notably, striker Mhairi Crooks joining from Kilmarnock and goalkeeper Chloe Gibney from Gartcairn. Both join with strong SWPL experience, showing Rossvale’s aims for the coming season. They aren’t just here to take part.
Ayr United
Runners up in the 2023/24 SWF championship, and dramatic winners of the play-off final against Glasgow Women (the single best game of football we have ever seen live, until the next one). If you were writing a script for a season you would likely still not even come close to the drama that the Honest Women served up. That stormy night in Falkirk will live long in the memory, if you somehow missed it you can check out the highlights here.
Ayr United gave Rossvale a real run for their money post-split. Taking the title to the final day as well as beating them in the run in. 23/24 was Ayr’s first real promotion run and they made it stick. They’ll be aiming to back up their promotion and impose their style of play on the SWPL 2.
Set Up
The 2023/24 season was Craig Potter’s second season as Ayr United manager and in that time he has overseen a rise in the clubs fortunes. Potter is an ambitious coach and Ayr United are matching that with increasing commitment to their women’s side.
Since gaining promotion the club wasted no time in getting most of their squad signed on to new deals for their first season in the SWPL. Starting with club captain Jodie Barbour, and most recently getting the SWF Championship Players’ player of the season, Clare Docherty, signed up.
If you watched the play-off final, or have now seen the highlights, then you’ll know what to expect from Ayr. Quick, attacking, football designed to get you out of your seat. They have great pace out wide, and with a forward like Clare Doc up front every attack looks like it could be a goal. She hit 18 goals in the Championship last year, plus that hat-trick in the playoff final.
Another big characteristic of this team is that they never seem to know when they’re beaten. 8 points behind Rossvale going into the Split, yet still taking the title to the wire. In the play-off final, Glasgow Women scored a last second penalty to take it to extra-time and Ayr went down to ten (again, if you haven’t watched those highlights yet you are doing yourself a disservice). Yet they fought back to score another goal to earn them an SWPL berth.
What to Expect
After that dramatic 4-3 play-off win we spoke with Craig Potter about what we should expect from his team in the SWPL 2, and he was very clear in his response.
“More of what you’ve seen today. We’ve always scored goals since I’ve been here and we’re going to continue doing that.
There’s not much more to add to that from Craig Potter. Expect more rock ‘n’ roll football, and if you’re lucky (or unlucky) enough to have your team come up against them then you’ll be in for a heck of a ride.
We wouldn’t expect Ayr to have as much success as some of the other Championship teams (though we have been proven wrong on many occasions). Their determination will see them picking up a good number of points, but whether that will be enough we will have to see.
Just the one promotion place up for grabs this year makes a double promotion unlikely for either side. Expect Clare Doc to keep up her form though, not her first rodeo at this level and her experience and goals will be one key bit of the puzzle for Ayr.
Regardless of the fates of either of these teams in the SWPL, we are so excited to see them in action. The Championship has oodles of quality, and having 2 teams come up will bring a real freshness to the SWPL 2. The second tier is already a bonkers league so this is going to get very fun very quickly.