Peter Caulfield has pretty much seen it all in women's football. Team manager at Glasgow City for 11 years, he is the most successful manager in the history of the women's game.

He has just guided his team to a record fourth successive Scottish Women's Premier League title - their fifth in all under his tutelage - but is aware there is a growing threat to his team's dominance.

Both halves of the Old Firm now have teams and Celtic were unbeaten in the league until their Halloween clash with Glasgow City to decide the title, which Glasgow won 3-1.

It was the first time the women's title has been decided so early after the SWPL took the bold and refreshing step to introduce summer football.

Caulfield, 50, believes the first season - stretching from March to November - has been a success with less matches postponed and, he believes, an improvement in quality.

The shift in season has also helped the Scotland national team and Scotland’s club teams in Europe as it means they are not caught cold in the early rounds of European competition, a factor that is evident in the men‘s game.

"The SFA don't refer to it as summer football, it's a change in calendar,“ Caulfield outlines.

“Undoubtedly, it has helped, both in terms of quality of play and getting more spectators along to matches.

"It's no fun playing or watching games in howling gales and lashing rain and playing from March until November has helped eradicate that if not remove it completely.

“There were a lot of postponements previously when games were played in December, January and February and some teams were relying on playing at junior clubs. When the weather is bad, women’s football is the first to go. 

"But almost 50 per cent of the teams in the league play on synthetic surfaces now - Rangers, Celtic, Hibs, Spartans and Hamilton do not play on grass and in the last couple of months we've moved to a synthetic pitch as well. It has been a positive move and can only help the women's game.”

Caulfield joined Glasgow City in 1999, a year after their birth, and is convinced the standard is higher than ever with the number of players having increased considerably and a dramatic improvement in the standard of coaching. 

"I've probably seen 90 players come and go during my time at the club and there were a lot of changes in the early years. It's only in the last few years that we've had a settled team,” he continues.

"When I first started, it was a struggle getting players to train for two nights a week but now we are training five nights a week and playing on a Sunday.

“This team has set the benchmark for the Scottish women’s game in recent years. The latest title is a great credit to the girls as they have come under increasing pressure from the likes of Celtic and other teams this year.

“But they have stepped up their training and there is a more professional edge to the players and they have put a lot of effort in. It’s good to see them get the reward for what they have put in.

"There is a lot more commitment from players and coaches and clubs are a lot more organised."

With the Old Firm now seeing the potential, there would seem a danger that the best young players might be drawn to them, given their dominance in the men’s game.

Caulfield does not see it that way and has worked hard to promote the junior side of the game at his club.  "In the very early days we lost a couple of players to Celtic but there has not been an exodus of players to Celtic or Rangers.

"If anything, it has been the other way as we have had players coming to us from Celtic. The women's game has a different identity and it is refreshing that players just do not opt to join Celtic or Rangers because of their names."

RM

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