Belated honours for Scots footballer who helped win the world cup – for Italy

The steadfast striker overcame the odds to succeed in a career that didn’t exist at the time in Scotland – the Scottish FA declared that football was not “a game for ladies” – and has made a huge contribution to the sport and to inspiring girls and women to play.

She was recognised yesterday by Glasgow Caledonian University for her outstanding contribution to women’s football, adding an honorary doctorate to her growing personal trophy cabinet.

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“Being recognised by the university is a massive honour for me,” Reilly said. “Most of my awards have been in Italy, as that is where my career was based, so it is wonderful to be recognised in Scotland too.”

The former footballer declared that her honorary award was “certainly up there” with inductions in the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame and the Scottish Football Hall of Fame, adding: “I’ve had to overcome many hurdles in my career and my advice to anyone, particularly women and girls, facing barriers in any area of life is not just simply to jump over them or get around them, but to smash them down if you can.”

Reilly, who grew up in Stewarton, Ayrshire, started playing football as a child for the local boys’ team and was once scouted by Celtic before they found out she was a girl.

She played with Stewarton Thistle Ladies and was part of the team that won the inaugural Scottish Cup in 1971. She turned down the chance to join the Commonwealth pentathlon team to concentrate on football and, with Westhorn United, won the Scottish Cup, League Cup and League Championship.

Aged 18, Reilly signed for France’s Stade de Rheims. She was signed by AC Milan six months later and won eight Serie A league titles, four Italian Cups and the Golden Boot in 1983. At one point she was playing for Rheims on a Friday and AC Milan on a Saturday – winning both the French and Italian leagues.

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Reilly was selected for the Italian women’s national team – despite having no formal links to the country before her move to Milan – and was voted best player in the squad that took the Women’s World Cup in 1984.

A 1921 ban on women’s football in Scotland was not lifted until 1974, with the SFA taking control of the women’s game in 1998. Reilly was banned by the Scottish Women’s FA along with teammates Edna Neillis and Elsie Cook for criticising the national body.

Finally presented with her international caps only in May this year, almost half a century after playing in a 1972 loss to England, Reilly insisted that she did not hold onto any bitterness over the ban which forced her to seek the football abroad.

“There is absolutely no anger, no regret, nothing like that,” Reilly told The Herald earlier this year.

“Everything happens for a reason. I had the career I had because Scotland banned me basically. I’ve said it many times: there was always a Scottish heart beating under an Italian jersey. I was carrying the name of Scotland abroad.”

She said she was “happy for my teammates who went so long without recognition” and suggested that, without Cook, who organised the game against England, “Scottish women’s football wouldn’t be in the place it was today”.

She said in May: “I was always wanting to play football but always getting obstacles in my way. The SFA just didn’t agree with women’s football – we weren’t allowed referees, we weren’t allowed on official pitches.”

Agenda: Challenging stereotypes to help girls see a future in sport

Reilly, now 64, has finally had her legendary status acknowledged in recent years. Her trailblazing contribution to the sport and inspiration to girls and women to take up the game saw her induction into the Scottish Sports and Scottish Football Halls of Fame and, in 2011, she was the first recipient of a special Professional Footballer’ Association Scotland Merit Award.

Looking to the current game, where Reilly has heaped praise on current Scotland head coach Shelley Kerr, the former striker has said her career should serve as a reminder of how things used to be for her and her teammates.

“I think it’s important that, regardless of the time that’s elapsed, they’re recognised for their achievements because the females back then that played football have paved the way for the stars of the future and namely our teams,” she said.

“It’s really, really important that, as an organisation, we recognise the hard work and we don’t forget about the women that have paved the way playing football back where there was a certain stigma attached to it.”