Players flocking to ply their trade in England can still be a positive for women’s football in Scotland, insists Scottish Women’s Premier League managing director Fiona McIntyre.
Second tier Ipswich Town alone have snapped up six players from the SWPL this summer, part of a wider trend of players heading south.
Celtic’s Emma Lawton has joined the Tractor Girls along with Hearts trio Georgia Hunter, Bayley Hutchinson and Georgia Timms and Hibernian pair Rosie Livingston and Eilidh Adams.
Hibs have also lost influential striker Kathleen McGovern to Newcastle United in the same division, while Mia McAulay has departed Rangers for WSL side Aston Villa.
McIntyre says these transfers are inevitable given the resources in England, but hopes Scottish clubs will start to receive larger fees for developing players.
“We don’t want to lose talent, but when you’re on the border of one of the best resourced leagues in the world, the fact they’re coming to Scotland is a real positive in the sense it reflects well on the standard we have,” McIntyre said, speaking at the new season launch.
“In an ideal world we want the best players to stay in Scotland, of course we do.
“Our priority is that the SWPL has a really high standard but we’re not naive and if there’s opportunities for players to go down south and play in a league that is so well resourced then we absolutely accept that.
“As long as the clubs get a financial reward for that then that’s something that can become part of the economic model of women’s football.”
That aspect is something McIntyre thinks “will grow” but the majority of summer moves to England were under freedom of contract, with no compensation required.
“We’re not yet, from a club perspective, really creating a lot through player trading,” she explained. “That will come in time and will be a new revenue source.”
McIntyre also stressed that the recent departures will provide openings for others to step up and gain valuable experience.
“Look at Hearts in the Champions League qualifiers with some really young players and doing fantastically well,” she said. “Those opportunities, to some degree, come about because other players have left.
“So I think you have to see the positive and how we can use it to make Scotland a real hotbed of talent.
“Some of it may leave and that may benefit the national team, and when players leave it creates opportunity for young Scottish players to really get a chance.”
The SWPL 2026-27 season kicks-off on Sunday 16 August.
