Ross County Women will be stronger for experience of first season in Scottish Women’s Football pyramid – and will aim to win title in 2025/26 season
Ross County Women will be stronger for the experience of their first year in Scottish Women’s Football’s pyramid – and will be coming back next season determined to win the league.
That is the view of coach Kayleigh Mackenzie after County’s 2024/25 season drew to a close against Huntly, finishing second in the table.
It has generally been a positive year for the club. Having won the Highlands and Islands League as they eased into senior football, their introduction to the SWF pyramid came in the form of progress through the League Cup group stages and a strong start to the SWFL North campaign.
However, a bad patch in the new year saw any hope of winning the title, and qualifying for the promotion play-offs as a result, fade away.
Some players have also struggled with injuries, with Keira Syrjanen nursing an ankle issue throughout the second half of the campaign as just one example.
Now, with a greater understanding of the demands of the division and an extra year’s development for what remains an extremely young squad – where most of the players are still at school – optimism is high that next year can be even better.
“It’s been an up and down season,” Mackenzie admitted.
“We had a blip in the middle of the season where we lost a few games, but we have picked ourselves up and shown everyone the kind of football we are capable of playing.
“We’ve had a few injuries along the way, but for our first season together we couldn’t ask for much more.
“Obviously most of our under-18s are used to playing with each other, and then we’ve built the team by adding all the rest of the players who hadn’t played together.
“It comes down to experience as well. Some girls have that, but for some of them this has been their first time in women’s football.
“Because we’ve got this season under our belts, I think next season we will definitely push for top spot. We know the other teams now and how they play, so we just have to take every game as it comes.”
One question mark remains exactly how much of the squad will stay together for next season.
With some of County’s regular starters leaving school and potentially heading to university, there may not be answers imminently either to help preparations for the 2025/26 campaign.
“It’s difficult to say what the squad will look like next season, because we don’t know who’s all going to uni yet with some still waiting on exam results,” Mackenzie added.
“We’re hopeful we will have most of the same team, and it will be plenty for us to build on.
“I’m hoping to be back from injury myself too, but that’s all down to whether I get surgery, so we’ll see.”
