Fay’s switch to Iceland gets Signeul’s backing
Scotland head coach Anna Signeul says everybody is a winner following the decision of her goalkeeper and captain, Gemma Fay, to move to the Icelandic champions Stjarnan.
Fay, who has a record 197 caps, will join up with her new club at a training base in Rome immediately after Scotland’s friendly against Belgium in Leuven on Tuesday. She will spend a week in Italy before moving to Stjarnan, who play in Gardaber, near Reykjavik.
The goalkeeper had started the season as No 2 to Lee Alexander at Glasgow City, and Signeul admitted that the situation, if it continued, would have caused both her and the captain problems.
“It would have been difficult for Gemma to take a place on the pitch if she wasn’t getting game time,” Signeul said. “She needs to play games. This is the best solution, maybe even for Glasgow City. It’s never good to have players in a squad who aren’t happy. With this everybody is a winner.”
This prognosis was confirmed by Fay, who said she was excited to be making “one last big journey” in club football. She will be 36 in December and has been offered a fully professional contract for the season.
Her year started badly when she was injured in the first of two Scotland friendlies against Denmark in January. She only returned to the international side for the third of the four Cyprus Cup games in March, and again had to come off after an hour with a different injury.
“If you look at any international team you need to be playing,” Fay said. “I had discussions with Scott [Booth, the City head coach] about that.
“The whole thing is slightly unfortunate for me in getting the injuries when I did. It put me in a difficult situation. Scott didn’t want me to leave – he said it was too early. But I said this scenario was best for both me and for Lee.”
Alexander, who is also in the Scotland squad for Tuesday’s game against Belgium, remains uncapped despite having been taken to Cyprus last month. The No 2 goalkeeper, Shannon Lynn, played in Fay’s absence.