In March 2023, two very visible and striking symbols of the changing face of Scottish women’s football were unveiled for the first time by Designers and Makers, Thomas Lyte. The new trophies for the SWPL and SWPL2 – the top two divisions in Scottish women’s football – reflect the passion and excitement surrounding the sport at the start of a new era for the game in Scotland.
The SWPL decided to work with Thomas Lyte as a result of our proven track record of Restoring, Repairing, Designing and Making some of the world’s best-loved pieces of football silverware, including two of English football’s most prestigious prizes, the Emirates FA Cup and Vitality Women’s FA Cup.
Following the launch of the SWPL Sky Sports Cup in November 2022 – the inaugural tournament was won by Rangers, who beat Hibernian 2-0 in the final the following month – the two new trophies were a graphic and tangible illustration of the growth of the sport in the country.
Thomas Lyte enjoys an enduring relationship with football, both in Britain and far beyond UK borders. Our pioneering spirit is very much in-tune with the ambition and drive shown by those in charge of delivering change in the Scottish women’s game, as Fiona McIntyre, SWPL Managing Director, explains.
“This was a hugely important aspect of establishing the new SWPL and its brand,” she says. “We felt it was important to have three new trophies, reflecting the new era, that are bespoke to the SWPL. For us, Thomas Lyte really stood out due to their portfolio of work historically but also their passion to be involved and support the SWPL, through their creative design options.”
Lovingly hand-crafted in our London fine silver workshops that have played host to many of global sport’s most instantly recognisable pieces of silverware, Thomas Lyte Designed and Made the two SWPL trophies that were launched to considerable acclaim in March 2023.
The excitement surrounding the new trophies was matched by events on the final day of the 2022/23 SWPL season The SWPL Trophy circled Glasgow in a taxi, unsure of the eventual destination of the biggest prize in Scottish women’s league football as Glasgow City, Rangers, and Celtic fought for the right to lift the trophy for the first time. The former would eventually prevail, but the wait was an agonising one.
The introduction to these two new glistening football crowns couldn’t have been any more dramatic.
