We're looking back at some of the key moments in the Girls’ and Women’s game in Scotland throughout 2025.

From referees to National Teams to grassroots, it’s been a jam-packed year in the Girls’ and Women’s calendar and here's just a few of the highlights over the last 12 months.

January

Pitching In – the year started with a campaign to raise £50m over the next five years to improve football facilities across the country.

The Scottish FA made the first donation of £5m - money which will help grassroots and member clubs make infrastructural improvements, including the upgrade of 75 existing changing facilities to make them more welcoming and accessible, particularly for girls and women.

Latest groups graduate from Women's B Licence course with Scottish FA Coach Education Department

An ambitious group of female coaches become the latest to graduate from the Scottish FA Coach Education Department's Female-Only UEFA B-Licence offering.

The B-Licence is the latest bespoke female-only course that the Scottish FA has put on in the past few years.

Referees Abbie Hendry and Lorraine Watson named on FIFA International List for 2025

The Scottish FA and Referee Operations department congratulated this year’s nominated officials following confirmation from FIFA. The list included Abbie Hendry and Lorraine Watson in the referee category, with Vikki Allan and Vikki Robertson confirmed as assistant referees.

February

SWNT return for 2025

Scotland Women’s National team were back in action for the first time this year, kicking-off their ‘Group A’ UEFA Women’s Nations League campaign with a trip to Austria before hosting Netherlands at home.

Michael Tuohy names his first under-17s squad

The newly appointed Women’s Under-17s head coach named his squad for their first competitive matches since he took charge. It followed preparation games in the MIMA Cup earlier that month with the young team losing to Canada and Sweden but securing a win over Czechia.

The side ultimately missed out on qualification for this summer’s European Championships following a narrow final day defeat to France.

March

Galáctica premiere

From the pitches of Pitreavie to the magic of Madrid, the Scottish FA film, Galáctica, documents the rise and rise of Scotland and Real Madrid midfielder, Caroline Weir and premiered with a special event in Edinburgh.

It was the first documentary of it’s kind produced by the Scottish FA about a women’s national team player and was released in full on April 2.

Menstrual Awareness Workshop

The Scottish FA hosted a menstrual awareness workshop from the adidas Breaking Barriers Project to educate young players, coaches, and key stakeholders about the menstrual cycle and its relationship to sport.

Scotland Women’s National Team winger, Claire Emslie was in attendance to answer questions and share her experience navigating the menstrual cycle throughout her career.

April

Mel Andreatta appointed SWNT Head Coach

The Australian took over as the new Head Coach for the Scotland Women’s National Team. The Assistant Coach of Australia’s Matildas was formally announced as the permanent replacement for Pedro Martinez Losa.

May

Rangers retain Scottish Gas Women’s Scottish Cup

Rangers emerged victorious in a 3-0 win over Glasgow City as the competition culminated in the showcase showdown at Hampden Park.

Mia McAulay opened the scoring to set Jo Potter’s side on their way, then a brace from Kirsty Howat ensured the silverware was heading back to Ibrox for the second consecutive year.

Campaign to identify ‘Trailblazers’ launched

The Scottish FA launched a new ‘Trailblazers’ initiative to identify and honour women who represented Scotland at international level between 1972 and 1997 and did not receive an official cap for their appearances.

June

Spar future stars finals day

This year’s Spar Future Stars Cup finals day saw more than 400 girls from across Scotland participate in the final stages of the school football tournament at Broadwood Stadium.

Braidhurst High School were crowned national champions in both S1/S2 and S3/S4 competitions for 2025.

New ambassadors for KDM Group soccer centres

KDM Group Soccer Centres relaunched for their third season with six brand new Scotland Women’s National Team ambassadors.

The grassroots partnership has gone from the strength to strength since its introduction in 2023 with 89 centres now in existence and more than 1,400 players engaged in weekly sessions across the country.

July

Elsie Cook inducted into Scottish Football Hall of Fame

Scottish women’s football pioneer, Elsie Cook, was the latest inductee to the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the game.

The 79-year-old was a leading figure in the women’s game throughout 1970s and 80s, and an architect of the game as we know it today

Female referee recruitment drive

The Scottish FA launched a discounted online course during the UEFA Women’s European Championships aimed at specifically attracting more females into refereeing.

The campaign also highlighted the new women’s football refereeing categories which provide qualified officials the opportunity to forge a career for themselves exclusively within women’s football, officiating across Next Gen, SWF and the SWPL.

August

NextGen season 25/26 underway

This year’s NextGen campaign kicked off with the first fixtures in the Under-15 and Under-17 categories.

It followed an exciting end to last year with six different clubs winning across the various categories, age groups and competitions.

Let Them Play

The Let Them Play campaign put a fresh focus on enjoyment, equal opportunities and positive sideline behaviour throughout Scotland’s grassroots game.

A series of videos were launched ahead of the new season with a toolkit to help reinforce good practice and tackling poor sideline behaviour head-on.

September

Women’s Under-16s talent ID day

The Scottish FA hosted the second annual event of its kind with more than 60 promising young footballers from 21 clubs across Scotland, England and Norway.

The event followed six regional talent ID days that were held in the summer throughout the north-west, east, south-west and west regions of Scotland where more than 140 players participated.

Women’s Under-23s friendly tournament participation

Scotland Women’s Under-23s confirmed their participation in a European friendly tournament for the first time.

The games were set to take place over four matchdays within three windows ahead of finals in April 2026.

Caroline Weir becomes Scotland’s first ever Ballon d’Or Feminin nominee

Scotland midfielder Caroline Weir became Scotland’s first ever Ballon d’Or Feminin nominee.

It followed the Real Madrid player’s comeback season after recovering from an ACL injury before going on to become the club’s all-time leading goalscorer in March 2025.

October

SWNT in Dunfermline

Scotland Women’s National Team Head Coach Melissa Andreatta connected with the community in Dunfermline ahead of SWNT’s friendly against Switzerland in the city.

Andreatta spent time at Dunfermline High School, treading the pitches that produced Scotland's first Ballon d'Or Feminin nominee, Caroline Weir. The boss also made a surprise visit to oversee a training session for the P6/7 girls' team at Masterton Primary School before rounding off the day at Pitreavie playing fields.

Girls and Women In Sport week

We marked the week the Scottish Gas Women’s Scottish Cup second round draw, Scotland women’s under-17s in round one European qualifying action and Scotland defender Leah Eddie sat down to talk to us about her journey in the game.

November

Women’s World Cup Qualifiers confirmed

The road to Brazil 2027 was outlined as the Scotland Women's National Team were drawn into Group B4 for the Women's European Qualifiers for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Melissa Andreatta's side are joined in the group by Belgium, Israel and Luxembourg with matches taking place from March until June 2026.

Hampden hosts breast health workshop in partnership with adidas

As a follow-up to the Menstrual Awareness Workshop delivered at Hampden Park earlier this year, the adidas Breaking Barriers Project and the Scottish FA recently hosted a Breast Health Workshop for players, coaches, and referees over the age of 16. 

December

Scotland Women's Under-19s end round one European qualifiers unbeaten

The young team closed the year out in style with a 4-1 win over Croatia. This followed an impressive victory over the Netherlands and a draw against Norway to progress to Round Two.

Scotland will compete in ‘League A’ against Norway, Austria and North Macedonia as they bid for a spot at the 2026 finals in Bosnia and Herzegovina next Summer.

Launch of formal UK FIFA Women’s World Cup 2035 bid

Scotland's National Stadium, Hampden Park, and Easter Road Stadium have been included as proposed venues in the UK's formal bid to host the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2035.

The application, under the banner of 'All Together', reflects the partnership of the four countries involved in the proposal. The tournament would involve 104 matches contested by 48 teams over 39 days, with 48 team base camp training sites, 82 venue-specific training sites and 32 FIFA Fan Festival Sites proposed.