It has been a strange few days for Aberdeen Women.
Last week the club announced three of the club’s key players – Bayley Hutchison, Eilidh Shore and Jess Broadrick – were leaving the Dons.
Also moving on are captain Nadine Hanssen, Adele Lindbaek, Keeley Banfield and Emma Lawson, while Francesca Ogilvie, Lois Edwards and Jen Currie remain in discussions over new deals.
The departure of Hutchison, Shore and Broadrick – three young players all with the potential to go on to represent their country at senior level – represents a major blow for the club ahead of the new SWPL campaign starting on August 11.
All three made significant contributions in recent years to help the Dons return to the SWPL and consolidate their position in the top flight of Scottish women’s football.
Hutchison, last season’s top scorer in the SWPL with 28 goals, netted a remarkable 118 times in 145 games for the Dons.
While Hutchison has grabbed the goals, Shore has been the midfield metronome – an all-action box-to-box player who is calm on the ball, tough in the tackle and also capable of finding the back of the net.
Unsurprisingly, she has been Aberdeen’s players’ player of the year for the past four seasons.
Defender Broadrick endured a difficult season with health issues but has captained Scotland at under-19 level and possesses all the attributes to also play at a higher level.
All three have come through the ranks at Aberdeen Women but have decided moving away will give them the best chance to develop as footballers.
Hutchison and Shore have joined SWPL rivals Hearts and will be lining up against the Dons next season with Broadrick’s next destination yet to be confirmed.
Arrival of Champions League winner
While the news a large chunk of the team had departed was still digesting, the Dons announced later that day South Korea Women’s national team manager Colin Bell would be their new head coach.
This appears a very bold and ambitious appointment.
Bell won the Uefa Women’s Champions League with Frankfurt in 2015 and, more recently, guided South Korea to a first Asian Cup final in 2022 and was in charge of the country at last year’s Women’s World Cup.
In an engaging and encouraging first interview, he spoke about his vision of seeing Aberdeen competing with the likes of Celtic, Rangers and Glasgow City.
But even a coach with a stellar CV can only do so much without adequate investment in the playing squad.
How much would be required to replace Hutchison, Shore and Broadrick for a start?
The criticism of Aberdeen in relation to their women’s side in recent times has been a lack of ambition.
Frustratingly, the core of a strong side was already in the building but the Dons’ threadbare squad meant they finished in the bottom six last season and in eighth spot – only one place higher than in 2023.
How can you close the gap on full-time teams Celtic, Rangers and Glasgow City as well as Hearts and Hibernian while investing less money and developing at a slower rate than your rivals?
Those involved in the women’s team will hope that is about to change and the Dons board deserve credit for looking outside the box with their head coach appointment.
Aberdeen’s director of football Steven Gunn said the recruiting of Bell was “a sign of our intent for the development of our programme.”
The SWPL will drop from 12 teams to 10 following this season with the bottom three teams relegated so it would be an opportune time for the Dons to start pushing ahead.
If Aberdeen are to position themselves among the top women’s teams in the country then greater investment will be required to prevent the best young players from the north-east of Scotland feeling forced to move elsewhere to further their own careers.
Time will tell if the desire to make that a reality is there.
