Hamilton Accies Women and Girls football club are hosting the first Friday night football event on the 24th May at the John Cumming Stadium in Carluke, reports Cheryl Smith.
The SWPL side will be hosting Hibernian Ladies in the first ever Friday night football game in the Scottish women’s game.
Hamilton Accies manager Kevin Murphy explains the thinking behind this trial event, said: “We wanted to trial this last season but we were not permitted however this season we have been granted permission and we hope it will promote the women’s league with an entertaining spectacle. Friday night games were trialed in the men’s game last season which proved successful and hopefully we can have similar success this Friday.
“We hope that by having the game on a Friday night we can increase awareness and attain more media attention for the game as well as boost the numbers attending a SWPL game. We have made a huge effort for the game such as having face painting for kids, free giveaways as well as running a local schools mascots competition.
“We will also be having a live twitter fan interaction during the game which we all hope will add to a family fun experience on the night.”
Recently appointed SFA brand manager for Women’s Football Nicola Campbell, is delighted Hamilton have taken on this venture. She added: “The idea of Friday Night Football was initially raised by Hamilton. I had been working within the Scottish FA for a number of weeks when I heard about the concept and felt that it would be great to trial it and to see the outcome in terms of audience at the match.
“A lot of girls and women who play football cannot watch other matches as they are normally all played on a Sunday afternoon so by having matches on a Friday evening it gives other players the opportunity to watch more of the sport which they love. In addition to this, I also feel that it would give individuals within local communities something else to do on weekends.
“I know that in England there are quite a few Friday night fixtures being played within the WSL. I was recently at the Friday evening match between Liverpool and Arsenal Women and there was a crowd of over 2000 at the match which is excellent. We will assess how Friday Night Football has done after the match and hopefully if successful, it may be something which we will see again in the SWPL”
The game against Hibernian will be a difficult game for the home side, which is something manager Kevin Murphy is fully aware of. He continued: “We are expecting a difficult game which we always get when we play Hibs. We lost after extra time in the league cup but we know we will have to play even better if we are to take anything away from the match. They will be hurting after there defeat to Glasgow City and we will have to be at our best to take all three points.”
Get yourself along to the John Cumming Stadium in Carluke for the 8pm kick off as well as all the other fun events which will be taking place on the night and show your support for women’s football.
