Football games taking place on bank holiday Mondays are typically an English football tradition rather than a Scottish one.

Considering how much we seem to want to model ourselves after our neighbours down south – essentially copying every sodding thing they do regardless of whether it's suited to our game or not – it's interesting that this isn't something which has been incorporated into the football calendar north of the border. 

There is, however, one such option in Scottish football this Monday in May, and it's a huge game for both sides involved. Rangers host Celtic at Broadwood to decide who will take the advantage of the title race going into the final three games of the SWPL season. Though the two rivals are tied neck-and-neck at the summit, Celtic essentially have a one-point advantage thanks to their superior goal difference. A 13-goal disadvantage isn't impossible to make up in a league where Celtic and Rangers routinely put at least five goals past opponents, but with the split providing stern tests than the likes of Hamilton Accies and Dundee United at the bottom, and Rangers still having to face the league's third powerhouse Glasgow City, it seems unlikely.

It's been an interesting title race with Rangers looking clear favourites earlier in the campaign before recent stumbles, while Celtic have come storming right back under the guidance of Elena Sadiku, who took over from Fran Alonso in January. Recent results would, however, suggest momentum is swinging back towards Rangers. Jo Potter's team defeated their rivals in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup a week past Saturday, then Celtic surrendered their two-point advantage at the top with a 2-2 draw against Glasgow City.

It's all set up for a shootout at high noon. If you're looking for something to do with the family, this would be a very cost effective and fun way to spend the day. Adult tickets are priced at just £3 and it's £1 for children. If you're of a Rangers-supporting persuasion and live in the Greater Glasgow area, you've still got the chance to get yourself along if you're reading this before... what? 10.30am? If you're more Celtic-minded... tough, actually. You're too late, and by almost three days.

That's not because it's sold out. It's because Celtic placed a time limit of 5pm on Friday to buy a ticket which, it has to be said, makes very little sense. Why have the deadline so far away from the match actually taking place? Why take the opportunity away from your fans to decide at the last minute, having perhaps looked outside and seen some fine football-watching weather, to go along out of interest? It would be understandable if tickets needed to be sent out by mail on next-day delivery to arrive Saturday morning, but the club aren't doing that. Tickets are to be picked up from the venue. So, why the extreme cut off period?

The only rationale I can think of is the typical paranoia around potential Old Firm disturbances. Celtic, or perhaps an agreement between the clubs and/or the police, decided it wasn't worth the risk to have some restless, pissed-up, plastic hard-men turning up at the last minute looking to cause bother. But the chances of that happening at noon on a Monday are really quite remote.

It would be easy to say the women's game doesn't help itself, but that'd be unfair. There are lots of people working within the structure trying to do their utmost to strengthen interest in the sport in this country. In fact, I know for a fact there are those within Hampden who were banging their heads off the wall when Celtic did something similar with their ticket selling for the Scottish Cup final last season. 

Clubs, like Celtic, Rangers, Hearts and Hibs, should be commended for putting resources into their women's teams. Over £1 million is invested by both Celtic and Rangers, while Hearts are roughly at £500,000 and Hibs a little less than that. Now, £500,000 may be less than what Hearts wasted on Kyosuke Tagawa's collective transfer fee and wages this season to largely sit on the bench or run around and not touch the ball whenever he does get a rare opportunity in the team, but considering Scottish clubs typically like to hog every single penny to waste on duff players, it's a sign of real progress. But money alone won't grow the game.

As someone who wants to see the women's game thrive, collectively there needs to be more done in terms of marketing and putting games in positions where fans are more likely to go along, catch the bug and then become supporters themselves.

Though Hearts and Hibs put in those decent sums of money, the teams still play in places (the Oriam and Meadowbank, respectively) that are objectively crap to watch football. There has only been one match at each stadium this term for fans to go along and see. For the last two seasons, the Edinburgh derbies have begun at Tynecastle and Easter Road but ended the campaign in much more humble surroundings that don't provide an emotional connection to the average, curious supporter. Edinburgh derbies involving the women's teams need to feel normalised as a grand event, and that will only come over time with consistency. The same goes for the Old Firm.

I know there isn't a lot of interest in the sport at the moment, but that was once true of English football and look at some of the crowds they're getting on the domestic scene now. Due to the population gap, we'll never reach those figures on a consistent basis, but we should be aiming for more than just a couple of hundred folk. Women's football in Scotland is always going to be up against it, just as men's football is, when it comes to attendances. Because in Scotland, most fans, if they're not watching their own team, are watching something from the EPL. It's the curse of having the world's largest footballing market next door to us. Clubs should be doing what they can to help attendances improve, not putting up road blocks.

And if they're not going to go the extra mile, or even make basic common-sense decisions around ticketing, then what's the point in the investment they're currently putting in? Around the world more and more clubs, companies and benefactors are putting money into women's football because it's got the biggest and most realistic opportunity for growth. If Scottish football clubs realise this then they need to start acting like it more often.