Abbi Grant (Glasgow City), Abi Harrison (Hibernian), and Danni McGinley (Forfar Farmington) were presented with Festive treats at Hampden Park after all picking up the final awards of the 2017 season, reports Robert Wilson.
Grant was presented with the Player of the Month award for November, Harrison with the SBSSWPL 1 Golden Boot, and McGinley with the SBSSWPL 2 Golden Boot.
Abbi Grant won the final Player of the Month award in the largest public vote so far. The Glasgow City star had an impressive month with her side, netting twice across their four wins from four games. Those results, including a 3-0 away to Hibernian, saw them lift the SBSSWPL 1 title for a record 11th time.
Speaking from Hampden, she said: “It’s fantastic to have won this award. To have been nominated in the first place was a huge honour, especially given the competition we have at Glasgow City, but I’m ecstatic to have won this.
“It was a great month for me personally and as a team. To have won all our games, especially against Hibernian in our penultimate fixture, was massive for us. We’re back to training now already for next season and we’re ready to go again for number 12.”
It was also the first ever official presentation of the SBSSWPL Golden Boot winners. Abi Harrison scored 15 goals in SBSSWPL 1 for Hibernian and Danni McGinley grabbed 22 goals in SBSSWPL 2 (8 for Jeanfield Swifts and 14 for Forfar Farmington).
After being presented her award, Abi said: “I’m really pleased to have been given this award and I have to thank Scottish Building Society for their support of the league. They’ve been involved since August and already you can see the positive impact it’s having on the game.
“I’m obviously pleased to have had my efforts rewarded but we’re still disappointed not to have won the league this year. That was part of our treble ambitions which we didn’t achieve, so we’re hoping to rectify that in 2018.”
Danni McGinley, who will be battling for the SBSSWPL 1 Golden Boot next year with Forfar, said: “I had a really great season and it’s amazing to have that hard work recognised. I played with two fantastic teams last year, so I’d also like to give my thanks to the players, coaching staff, and supporters of both.”
On her new challenge in SBSSWPL 1, she said: “It’s exciting. It’s going to be difficult and I know I perhaps won’t get as many goals next season but I’m ready for the challenge ahead. The key aim for me will be helping Forfar stay in the division and I’ll look to help achieve that in whatever way I can.”
Having presented them with their awards, Paul Alexander, of Scottish Building Society said: “It has been a huge honour to be at Hampden today and to meet these three fantastic players. They’ve all done tremendous things for the game and their teams last season, so we’re so pleased that we can recognise that here today.
“Speaking to them all, you can clearly see the passion they have. Already they’re talking about next season and their ambitions, which is exactly why we are so proud to be a part of Scottish Women’s Football. We can’t wait for next year ourselves and to reward the achievements of even more players throughout the whole season.”
