Scottish Women’s Premier League managing director Fiona McIntyre believes the movement of players to English clubs can still benefit the women’s game in Scotland.
Ipswich Town, who compete in England’s second tier, have recruited six SWPL players this summer as part of a growing flow of talent moving south.
Emma Lawton has left Celtic to join the Tractor Girls, alongside Hearts players Georgia Hunter, Bayley Hutchinson and Georgia Timms, as well as Hibernian duo Rosie Livingston and Eilidh Adams.
Hibernian have also seen key forward Kathleen McGovern move to Newcastle United in the same division, while Mia McAulay has swapped Rangers for Women’s Super League club Aston Villa.
McIntyre accepts that the greater financial strength of English football makes such moves difficult to prevent, but she hopes Scottish teams will eventually earn more substantial fees for nurturing talent.
Speaking at the launch of the new season, McIntyre said Scotland naturally wants to retain its leading players, but interest from one of the world’s best-funded football systems also demonstrates the quality of the Scottish league.
She acknowledged that keeping the country’s strongest talent would be the preferred outcome.
However, while maintaining a high standard in the SWPL remains the priority, she said the league must be realistic when players receive opportunities to compete in significantly better-funded competitions in England.
McIntyre added that these transfers could become a sustainable part of the women’s football economy, provided Scottish clubs are properly compensated.
She expects that element of the game to develop, although most of this summer’s transfers to England involved players whose contracts had expired, meaning their former clubs received no fees.
McIntyre explained that Scottish clubs are not yet generating significant income from player sales, but she believes trading players will become an important source of revenue over time.
She also pointed out that recent exits create space for emerging players to earn first-team opportunities and important experience.
McIntyre highlighted Hearts’ impressive use of young players during their Champions League qualifying campaign, noting that some of those chances arose because more established squad members had moved elsewhere.
In her view, Scotland should focus on the advantages of the situation and use it to establish the country as a thriving centre for developing football talent.
She believes players moving abroad may also strengthen the national side, while their departures allow younger Scottish footballers to prove themselves at club level.
The 2026-27 SWPL campaign begins on Sunday, 16 August.
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