DREAM COME TRUE
Ladies boss Fian wins top coach at awards but says overall title is one that means most
Bishopton Ladies head coach Nori Fian says being named the top boss at the Scottish Women’s Football 2022 Awards ceremony was the “pinnacle” of his coaching career so far.
But he insists his club winning the team of the year award after scooping an incredible league and cup double was the one that meant the most to him on the night.
The unstoppable side lifted the league title last season after enjoying an invincible domestic campaign, topped off by beating Bayside to lift the league cup trophy.
Fian was delighted the Renfrewshire team’s incredible achievement was recognised on such a big stage and on such a significant night for Scottish women’s football in general.
Fian told Express Sport: “I’m absolutely delighted that we walked away with two awards on the night.
“Personally to win coach of the year is the pinnacle of my career. It’s my proudest moment ever in 25 years of management.
“But to get the recognition as a group to be voted the best team in the league was superb. That one meant the most.
“It was totally deserved as going an entire season unbeaten is no small thing in football. Winning two trophies was truly special and to get two awards to go with them is a dream come true.
“Julie Melrose was up for player of the year and Stephen Campbell was up for volunteer of the year too, and they deserve a big mention as well for their amazing efforts.
“These kind of campaigns don’t happen all the time and you have to make the most of them while you can.
“It’s been a long journey since I started the club up in
March 2014. I’m incredibly proud of everyone that’s been involved in the growth of this club.”
Next season marks
a new era for Bishopton Ladies as they make the step up to the SWF League One.
That will see them take on a host of new, more established opponents - including battles with local rivals St Mirren Women and Gleniffer Thistle Ladies.
Fian is looking forward to the new challenge, but admits he has a lot of work to do on the recruitment side after losing several key players due to the huge gap between last season ending and the new one starting.
Fian explained: “To go an entire season unbeaten, we did feel like we deserved to be in a tougher league.
“We managed to get the required infrastructure in place and now we’re looking forward to testing ourselves in League One.
“It’s great we have a few local derbies to look forward to and we will be up against a lot tougher opposition in general, against the likes of Airdrie, Falkirk and Stenhousemuir.
“The leagues have been restructured completely and we’ll have some away trips to Aberdeen and Dundee which will be a new experience for us as well.
“It’s a great step in the development of the club.
“We’ve always been a community club, but when you are winning as much as we have been we made the decision to step up because we want to keep progressing.
“Unfortunately a lot of our players have moved on, because our season finished in November last year and with the changes our new one now doesn’t start until August.
“We will rebuild though and if any local players are interested in getting involved they can contact us through our social media pages.”