The drama of a final day title race is one of football’s great joys – but spare a thought for those responsible for handing over the trophy when the outcome is uncertain almost until the final whistle.
This season, in Glasgow, there was a perfect illustration of the uncertainty and excitement that football delivers like few other sports.
On the last afternoon of the Scottish Women’s Premier League (SWPL) season, there were three possible outcomes, with three of the four Glasgow teams in the league all having a chance of lifting the Thomas Lyte-designed and handcrafted trophy.
It wasn’t just the title up for grabs too, qualification for the Champions League was also at stake. On an afternoon of high drama in the SWPL, it was a question of wait and see, as supporters poured into Ibrox, to see Rangers take on Glasgow FC, and Celtic Park, where Celtic met Hearts. These two great cathedrals of British football, playing host to a denouement unmatched almost anywhere in the world this season.
As the clock ticked down and the tension reached its peak on the final day of the Scottish Women’s Premier League, there was another facet to the drama of the day, between the stadia, taking place on the streets of Glasgow. Nestled securely in the back of a taxi with SWPL Chief Executive Fiona McIntyre, the coveted trophy embarked on a suspenseful journey with it’s destination completely unknown. With each passing minute, the taxi traversed through the bustling city, awaiting news of which team had claimed it, as Glasgow held its breath.
It’s rare for the outcome of an entire league season to be decided on the final day of the season, particularly one stretching out over 32 matches. It’s even more unusual for the outcome of an entire campaign to remain uncertain until almost the final kick, as was the case in this instance.
The question was, where should the trophy go while the outcome was still uncertain? The answer? No-one was quite sure.
And as the clock ticked-down, the solution was no nearer a conclusion, despite Celtic sprinting into a 2-0 lead courtesy of goals from Caitlin Hayes and Natasha Flint.
With Rangers and Glasgow deadlocked at Ibrox, all it would take was a single goal on the south side of the River Clyde for Celtic to be sunk.
It was the fascinating first instalment for a trophy unveiled in March as part of a silverware triumvirate that also included the prize for the winners of the SWPL2 and also the SWPL Sky Sports Cup, which was won by Rangers back in December.
With the trophies taken care of, all that needed to be decided was the team that would claim them for the first time. Rangers already had the Sky Sports Cup tucked away, and with Montrose comfortably winning SWPL2 to gain promotion to the top tier, it looked as though Celtic would join them on the trophy rostrum by winning their first SWPL title.
Then fate intervened.
With 92 minutes on the clock, Lauren Davidson struck to hand Glasgow a scarcely believable 15th title triumph in 16 seasons. Not that, that goal was the end of the story.
News filtered through to Celtic Park that Rangers had equalised in the final minute of injury time, only for that joy to be cut short by a free kick call.
🗣️ "It is not often we are live in a car!" 🚗
Managing Director of the @SWPL Fiona McIntyre spoke with us on the move to Ibrox to hand the league title over to champions Glasgow City! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/BHsuUwyiNF
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) May 21, 2023
For the car carrying the trophy, it proved to be the final act of a fraught afternoon, which demonstrated once again, why football is such a much-loved sport. And why the life of a trophy is never dull.
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