CAITLIN HAYES hopes it’s not just the men afforded the opportunity to bring Champions League nights to Celtic Park this season.
Celtic Women commence their UWCL qualifying campaign against Danish side Brondby on Wednesday as they bid to book a place in the prestigious group stage. But the journey is a gruelling one consisting of two rounds, the first of which is a mini-tournament and the second a two-legged knockout.
A tall order, but the rewards are substantial, not least the opportunity to pit your wits against the continent’s very best. Should they get there, defender Hayes wants to ensure they arrive with the ultimate home advantage.
Celtic fans helped break Scottish women’s football attendances as they turned out in droves for late-season SWPL matches held at Parkhead last season. Those were special occasions for Hayes and their team-mates, something she is desperate to replicate.
“Yes – that’s my answer,” she replied emphatically to the prospect of European nights at Celtic Park. “There’s no better place I want to play at, I would never say no to playing at Celtic Park.
“There’s no other stadium in this world that you could put on the line and ask me where I’d want to play, I’d still pick Celtic Park.
“That’s absolutely where I’d want to play Champions League – if we’re lucky enough to get to the group stage.”
A second-placed finish when it could so easily have been more was painful for Celtic to take last term, but it was still enough for European qualification. And she insists it’s a privilege to represent the club on this stage.
Qualifying takes place slightly later this year, which has allowed Celtic to get competitive games under their belt to prime them for the challenge of Brondby, and Hayes believes that can only be a good thing.
“I can’t wait,” she said. “Obviously, there’s only two spots in this league and they’re fought for greatly. To represent this shirt on the stage it should be represented, it’s a great honour. It’s something I can’t wait for.
“It’s something we’re working hard for.
“I think the more games you have the better you go, provided the coaching staff are doing the right things, and they are doing the right things.
“The first time we competed in it, it was our first game together and we hadn’t necessarily gelled or intertwined as much. But I can tell you now, this team has gelled and is ready to go.
“It’s something I’m excited for, and thankful to have those league games to iron out those notches and for Fran to find out his strongest starting XI is something I’m sure he’s grateful for.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here