Grant Scott: New home will be a great move for squad as we look to keep building | OneFootball

As we enter the month of July, the return for Celtic FC Women is almost upon us!

With the squad set to report back to Barrowfield on Friday, preparations for the 2026/27 campaign are set to get underway.

For Grant Scott and his players, the work will begin on the pitch with an eye on their first competitive fixture in August.

But it has already been a busy time off the pitch, with those preparations continuing to ramp up with those fixtures in mind.

Alongside a large number of the squad extending their stay ahead of the new campaign, there will also be a new home for the Ghirls.

The Hoops will be playing their home fixtures at Kirkintilloch Community Sports Complex.

Ahead of his squad returning on Friday, Grant Scott took a visit to our new home ground as he spoke about the summer of preparations.

The Celtic FC Women Head Coach is looking forward to getting going in Kirkintilloch as he reflected on the move.

He said: “I think it's a good move for us, a new area for us to increase our engagement with local supporters and, hopefully, build a fan base again.

“It’s a great surface to play on. Something that was quite important to us here but we're hoping that a smaller venue gives us an atmosphere for the players, and a better experience for the supporters

“We've got a really loyal support and we're very grateful for them, but we want to grow it and, if we can, put on performances on the pitch that the fans are happy with.

“Performances they can be proud of, so they can cheer this team on to further success and that's what it's all about.

“We're trying to develop the team further, improve the experience of the fans and players when they come to a game to watch us.

“So, hopefully we'll put a product on the pitch that satisfies that and give them the experience at a tighter venue that creates a decent atmosphere on a match day.”

As they get set to get a new season underway, the Ghirls come into this one on the back of a high after lifting the Scottish Cup at Hampden in May.

For Scott, he believes it is important that his side try and use that success to build momentum.

But he is also keen to see the squad use the disappointment from the league campaign to learn and build upon ultimately ending the season with trophy success.

“I think it's important we try to use it,” he said. “There's no getting away from the fact we were massively disappointed in our overall performance level throughout the season.

“Flashes are real good stuff, some spells are really poor stuff. So we're well aware it needs to be better.  I think the Cup win was really important for the squad.

“They've gone about their business in that competition extremely well, beating all the top sides to be successful at the end.

“We definitely need to try and use that as evidence-based learning, and growth, that we can compete with the best teams in our division.

“But it mustn't paper over any cracks that we feel in the areas where we let ourselves down. So yeah, a bit of both. We need to be sensible about it.

“They had a change of manager, we had a fairly injury ridden season, the squad depth was tested a lot.

“So there's lots of work to be done but it was a brilliant moment and that's what we're here for.

“We're here to be successful and winning trophies helps with that, the next stage is to build on it and grow again.”