Elena Sadiku: We want to give back to the fans in home opener

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Celtic F.C.

·22. August 2025

Elena Sadiku: We want to give back to the fans in home opener

With week one of the SWPL season now out the way, matchday two is approaching for Celtic FC Women.

That means a return to New Douglas Park for the Ghirls, as they gear up for their first home outing of the campaign.

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Elena Sadiku’s side will be aiming to build upon what was an impressive opening day victory in the capital as they welcome Hamilton Accies for their home opener.

Following another busy week of preparations, the Head Coach sat down with Celtic TV for an exclusive interview to catch up on the last few weeks.

She said: “The last few weeks have been really good in terms of the players work ethic, and also being on that journey of where we started, compared to where we are right now.

“The progress the team has made has been great. They have taken a lot on, with the style of play and what we want to do this season.

‘I’ve been very pleased and happy with the last few weeks leading into the season.’

“Obviously we have talked about the ups and downs of last season. There are things that we are proud of, and things that we definitely have learned from.

“We have been making sure that we've taken what we can to learn in order to make sure that we're better this season.

“I already see those lessons being learned and how much better we have been taking things along.

“It’s just about building now and making sure that we didn’t like last season is something that we're going to make sure doesn’t happen again.”

There was much to like about the Ghirls’ display last Sunday, with goals from Morgan Cross and Natalie Ross handing Celtic a 2-1 opening day victory over Hearts.

Whilst the attacking intent of her squad would have been particularly pleasing, the squad’s all-round performance was one that pleased the Celtic Head Coach.

Now, Elena Sadiku insists her side cannot wait to get back out on the pitch for their first match at home as they aim to put on a performance and give back to the Celtic support.

The Hoops fans travelled to the capital in their numbers last week, and Sadiku is hoping to see that support out at New Douglas Park on Sunday against Hamilton Accies.

“In terms of the performance, I was very happy with how there are many things we worked on during pre-season that are already working right now,” she said.

“Obviously in the second half, we defended really well, which was also really nice to see.

“Everybody was doing everything for each other, too, both attacking and defending – just seeing that togetherness out on the pitch was brilliant.

“You can see the relationships within the team are already there and it will become stronger and stronger.

‘We just need to be patient and work every single session to get to where we want to be. But it was a great start.’

“I said it after the game, it almost felt like we were at home when we played at the Oriam because we had so many fans.

“We can hear them all the time. Playing at home, hopefully, we can get even more fans there to support us.

‘But we love our fans, they mean everything to us. We want to make sure we can give back to them.’

“Perform well, make them happy but also give back to them for always sticking around, even after last season because we know we aren’t happy with that.

“But they are still around and still want to support us. So we are really thankful and grateful for them.”