Scotland women’s coach on the high of reaching the World Cup
Kerr and Co inspiring the nation as our women’s game begins to prosper
TUCKED away in a built-up area of the northern Albanian city of Shkoder, the Loro Borici Stadium offered a distinctly unassuming venue for Shelley Kerr and her players to create a piece of Scottish football history.
After 20 years away from the big time, you may have forgotten what it feels like to watch Scotland qualify for the World Cup finals. Some younger readers may have no recollection at all.
Fortunately, the Scottish FA have posted a comprehensive online highlights package. A volleyed opening goal from star player Kim Little makes for a perfect start then nerves jangle as an Albanian equaliser flies in just before halftime. A looping header from Jane Ross restores the lead but it’s the scenes at the end that make the viewing experience so worthwhile.
As the final whistle sounds on the 2-1 victory, the entire squad — substitutes, backroom staff and all — sprint to congregate on the halfway line and celebrate.
The smiles, the hugs and the tears — this was what it meant to qualify.
The following Friday night, Alex McLeish’s men’s team hosted Belgium in a Hampden friendly and the grim scenes of a 4-0 defeat were offset by revelry among the SFA hierarchy. Guest at a pre-match meal hosted by president Alan McRae, Kerr found herself the toast of the boardroom.
‘There was such a buzz at the dinner,’ she reflects. ‘The board were all so excited by the achievements of the women’s team.
‘This campaign seems to have inspired a lot of people and the support is growing from all our
stakeholders from Sportscotland to the Scottish government.
‘We still need more because we are playing catch-up to where the boys’ and men’s games are but it’s getting there. It’s evolving all the time.’
Qualification for next summer’s finals in France means there may be as many as a million good reasons to celebrate and Kerr expresses confidence that all revenue will be reinvested in the women’s game.
Already there has been a pay-off in the form of an impending visit from reigning world champions the USA, who will partake in a friendly match in Paisley a week on Tuesday as part of their extended build-up to the competition.
Kerr will relish the chance to pit her team against the very best and eagerly awaits the draw for the tournament on December 8. Beyond preparing for the dozen or so internationals a year, she is mindful of an extended remit that takes in the entire performance strategy for girls and women’s football.
Qualification for the World Cup — and indeed the Euros under her predecessor Anna Signeul — represents progress, but she wants to build a legacy.
Kerr succeeded Signeul after last summer’s championships in the Netherlands and immediately joined the association’s performance director Malky Mackay in mapping out a long-term plan.
‘When I first came in, I had to write a strategy for women’s football and that document has been completed,’ she reveals. ‘How do we develop the players over the four pillars of development? Technical, tactical, physical and mental.
‘Malky has been involved and approved the strategy. There is an integration.’
It wasn’t always thus. Signeul was in situ for 12 years but only started making meaningful progress following the appointment of Stewart Regan as chief executive in 2010.
Regan was replaced by Ian Maxwell earlier this year and Kerr is pleased to report that the new man is at least as supportive.
‘Ian comes to all the women’s games,’ she adds. ‘He is a tower of support and very inclusive of his staff. He is very forward-thinking in terms of both girls and women’s football.
‘At club level, a lot of women’s teams are supported well by their male counterparts. Some are a work in progress. But here in Scotland the financial climate is such that even the men’s side of it can be tough. I’ve been involved on both sides where you are fighting for resources all the time.
‘While I do think the clubs could support much more, I do understand the landscape of Scottish football.’
Friendly, clear-minded and tough in equal measure, Kerr was a talented defender who made her international debut in 1989 and represented club sides Kilmarnock, Hibernian, Doncaster and Spartans.
Along the way, she held down a job in a West Lothian factory and had a nine-year hiatus from football that saw her prioritise daughter Christie. She collected her 59th and final cap at the age of 39 and turned her attention to management, eventually landing a job with Arsenal Ladies, where she secured three trophies.
A year after securing her UEFA Pro Licence, she broke ground when appointed manager of Stirling University in the Lowland League.
‘I learned heaps at Stirling,’ she says. ‘I worked with some really vulnerable young players who maybe lacked a bit of confidence having been released from academies. For me, managing men was less challenging than managing women. The dynamics are different.
‘And yet coaching women is easier than coaching men. Women are more receptive and questioning. I love that.
‘There was huge scrutiny on me as the first female coach. We played in the Lowland League and we probably had 60 games a season. I had to manage a group of guys whose dreams had been shattered. They were also having to study and train.
‘I was studying for a Masters in sports management, so I had a bit of empathy with the players. They had exams, so did I.’
After three years, Kerr (below) was tempted back to the women’s game but not necessarily because she felt she had hit a glass ceiling.
In a week where Hearts chair Ann Budge and Hibs chief executive Leeann Dempster issued a joint statement on the back of the shameful scenes witnessed during Wednesday’s Edinburgh derby, women enjoy a higher level of influence than ever.
From the boardroom to the pundits’ couch, the gender balance is slowly being redressed.
‘At Hibs and Hearts, we have two businesswomen who are experts in their fields of work, leaders and role models for any female,’ says Kerr. ‘The First Minister is patron for the women’s national team.
‘I enjoyed my time working in the men’s game and there was a lot of support. It was never about gender, I never felt that. ‘Back when I started playing, it wasn’t the done thing, so I developed a resilience. Are there women capable? One hundred per cent but it needs to be what they want. ‘If you had asked me that question five years ago I would have thought we were a long way away. But now? I think we could see it, yeah.’ All of which begs the question of whether we might one day see Kerr managing in men’s senior football. ‘My only interest right now is preparing for a World Cup,’ she smiles. ‘Never say never.’ Kerr expresses empathy for her men’s counterpart Alex McLeish, who carries the weight of that two-decade absence from the biggest stage. Currently mired in a faltering UEFA Nations League campaign, McLeish is under scrutiny less than a year since his arrival. ‘I am 100-per-cent behind Alex,’ says Kerr. ‘Managers get a tough time but we all thrive on the stress. In terms of the Scottish national teams we are all united.’ As fate would have it, McLeish’s next assignment takes him to that very same stadium in Shkoder in just under a fortnight’s time. No pressure, Alex.
We have inspired a lot of people and the support for our game is growing
Managing men was less challenging than managing women. And yet coaching women is easier. Women are more receptive. I love that