Hosts ‘delighted’ by decision to stage cup final at Tynecastle
Ann Budge declared the staging of this year’s SSE Scottish Women’s Cup final at Tynecastle in November as timely, coinciding with the formal integration of Hearts Women into the official club set up.
“We decided to bring them on board in January and come November Hearts Women officially become part of the club,” the club owner said as the draw for the quarter-finals was made. “We are investing heavily in Hearts Women. I think it’s the time to really support women’s football and we were delighted to be asked to host the final.”
Having beaten their derby foes 7-1 in the previous round, Hibernian hope to be the team lifting the silverware at Tynecastle as they seek to maintain their impressive grip on domestic knockout competitions.
The most successful cup team in the country, with eight Scottish Cup wins and seven League Cups, they have completed the double in the past three seasons and have already won this year’s League Cup. Their next step to what they hope will turn out to be another brace is a home quarter-final against Hamilton in the middle of next month.
“It’s a good draw, especially since we have a big run of games with the Champions League, the cup and the league,” said Hibs player Ellis Notley. “Winning any cup is good, and it does not matter where it is, we’ll be happy.
“But it is good knowing you could play the final at a ground like this. You can’t really ask for much more,” added the defender, whose only previous playing appearance at Tynecastle was as a half-time hero as a kid. She is far more familiar with cup success, however, having collected six winner’s medals in succession. “At the start of the season we set out to win the league and the cups. The league is maybe outwith our reach at the moment but silverware is huge.
“It’s always ‘City win 12 in a row, City win 13 in a row’ in the league, well, we’ve got seven cups in a row now, so let’s make it eight, let’s make it nine. That’s our aim and hopefully we can do that and do better in the league.”