Francesca Ogilvie has credited new Aberdeen women’s manager Colin Bell and his powers of persuasion for convincing her to commit her future to the club.
The attacker was out of contract and, having watched team-mates including Eilidh Shore, Bayley Hutchison and Jess Broadrick all leave the club, was contemplating whether to accept the offer of a new two-year Dons deal.
But on the same day as the star trio’s departure was announced by the club, so too was the appointment of Bell. For Ogilvie, it has been a sliding doors moment.
She said: “Colin phoned me and it all happened very quickly.
“He told me he had been watching videos of our games and since then we had lost three very important players, and said: ‘I can’t lose you as well.’
“He told me how much value I would be to the team. I’m an Aberdeen fan and I live in the city, so the chat with him sealed the deal for me.”
Colin Bell a huge coup for the Dons – and Ogilvie reveals his SWPL top-three ambitions
The arrival of 62-year-old Bell hours after the departure of key players was announced was even more of a surprise.
With decades of coaching experience at club and international level, and a former women’s Champions League winner on his list of accomplishments, Bell’s appointment is a huge coup for the club.
Ogilvie says her new manager has wasted little time in setting out his aims for the club.
She said: “We weren’t expecting someone with such an amazing cv and it actually made me wonder why is he coming to Aberdeen?
“He said at training he is not coming in just to keep us in the league.
“He has a long-term plan to have us challenging Celtic and Rangers and he has made it very clear that, like the men, we should be up there in the top three.”
Replacing key trio will be a tough task
Bell’s first order of business was convincing Ogilvie to sign a new deal.
His second task is finding replacements for Shore, Hutchison and Broadrick.
Ogilvie is sad to see her former team-mates, who have all joined Hearts, depart the club but has backed Bell to rebuild the squad.
She said: “When I first signed for Aberdeen, I came in halfway through their first season and met Eilidh and Bayley straight away.
“Even as 15 and 16-year-old girls. they were so important to the team.
“Jess came in a little after me and quickly established herself in the starting 11 as well.
“To lose three players from your starting line-up is massive, but that’s football.
“They were three of our best players and you can’t always keep them.
“It’s now about Colin coming in and finding new players.
“We’ve had some new faces at training already, so hopefully they sign and we can build up the squad again.
“In terms of the team when Colin first came in, he might have had a shock with how bare we were.
“The first job is to find that spine and then building your team around that, getting more players in and numbers on the bench.
“It’s important to have 11 players, but you also need a strong bench, especially in this league.
“You look at Celtic and Rangers, who have a bench as good as our starting 11. We need quality as well.”
Ogilvie now one of the experienced campaigners in the squad
Ogilvie, who was named vice-captain at the club last season, is now the senior member of the squad.
It’s a change which she is still coming to terms with.
She said: “I’ve just turned 23 and I’m one of the oldest in the team. To go from being the youngest to now the oldest in five or six seasons is mental.
The attacker’s first public engagement of the new campaign was to join team-mate Maddie Finnie in launching the club’s new away kit on Tuesday.
The black and gold kit pays homage to the kit worn by the club from 1904 to 1939.
Ogilvie said: “It’s very bright.
“When I first saw it, I got a bit of a shock, but I knew it was going back to the original-themed kit when they were the Wasps.
“I like the retro feel with a modern twist.”
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