Scotland Women's National Team start the 2025 Nations League with two close defeats

The SWNT in a post match huddle Photo: Scotland Football

The Squad Announcement

It was announced that Pedro Martínez Losa would step down as manger after 3 years despite still having a lot of time left on his contract. It was then later announced that Micheal McArdle would be interim manager.

On the 6th of February he announced his first squad for the upcoming Nations League. There was a total of ten changes that were made to the group since the last outing, with 5 players getting their first call ups.

Starting with: Celtic defender Emma Lawton, Hibs forward Eilidh Adams, and midfielders Eilidh Shore from Hearts and Freya Gregory from Newcastle who has previously represented England at the youth level. However this was her first time being included in a senior squad and representing Scotland.

Additionally, Hibs goalkeeper Erin Clachers on loan from Glasgow City and Rangers forward Mia McAulay have returned to the group as they aim to make their debuts. There were a total of nine members from the team, who were unable to secure a victory against Finland in the Euro 2025 play-off final, that were not called up.

This group includes Rangers players Jenna Fife and Nicola Docherty, Celtic's Kelly Clark and Shannon McGregor, Bristol City teammates Jamie-Lee Napier and Amy Rodgers, as well as Emma Mukandi, Lisa Evans, and Brogan Hay.

Austria vs Scotland

On the 21st of February, Scotland started their Nations league journey away to Austria. Scotland went into this game with a new manager and a total change in the squad which left some Scotland fans with some hope after failing to make the Euros this summer. Micheal McArdle then went on to naming his starting XI.

The starting XI included two debutants who were Emma Lawton and Amy Muir. Starting with Amy Muir, she made her first full international debut in the Pinatar Cup in 2020 which was her first competitive start.

Emma Lawton who moved from Partick Thistle in the summer to Celtic; just 6 months ago she was playing part time with Partick Thistle and fast forward to now she has played in the Champions League and plays full time football.

Caroline also retained the Captains armband, with Rachel Corsie not getting called up as she's still just coming back from an injury which she sustained in October and had to undergo surgery for.

Scotland were now back in League A after their incredible run in the last Nations League campaign, which saw them get to the play-offs against Finland, where they saw their first defeat in the campaign.

Both teams started the game on a very fast pace, with both teams having multiple shots at goal in just the first 10 minutes and Manuela Zinsberger making a crucial save as Kirsty Hanson looked to score.

In just the 14th minute of the game Scotland concede with a goal by Lilli Purtscheller after the defence couldn't clear their line in the box which was very crowded.

Scotland later on in the 21st minute had to make an early substitution which saw Sophie Howard replaced by Leah Eddie after a head injury. Just before half time you could really see Scotland digging for the equaliser which then didn't happen.

Then second half got underway it is fair to say that Manuela Zinsberger was having a really good game. She had many saves to make as Scotland tried everything to find that equaliser.

At the 57th minute Scotland then made two more substitutions; Claire Emslie and Martha Thomas, who were replaced by Lauren Davidson and Freya Gregory making her debut for Scotland.

In the 79th minute Eilidh Adams made her Scotland debut while they were still searching for an equalising goal. Austria then shortly looked to double their lead but Sam Kerr managed to make a very last minute tackle to deny Austria.The game then ended not long after, with Austria winning the game with the early goal.

Scotland vs Netherlands

Scotland then took on the Netherlands on the 25th of February back home at Hampden, after a long time away, with the two previous games being at Easter Road. This game saw a crowd of 3,183.

Michel McArdle then announced his second ever Scotland line up which saw five changes from the squad that took on Austria in the 1-0 defeat. The changes that were made were Rachel McLauchlan, Kirsty MacLean, Leah Eddie, Lauren Davidson and Eilidh Adams replacing Amy Muir, Sam Kerr, Chelsea Cornet, Martha Thomas and Claire Emslie. It was also announced that Nicola Docherty got called up due to injuries that occurred to Amy Muir and Mia McAulay .

The Netherlands then got the game underway, also searching for their first win in this Nations League campaign after their 2-2 draw against a strong German team. Both teams were looking very sharp within the first 15 minutes, with both goalkeepers making crucial saves. But in the 34th minute, Scotland broke the deadlock with an Emma Lawton goal in just her second start for Scotland and her first under the Hampden lights.

Just before half Scotland looked to try double the lead and were looking more confident after the goal.Second half then got underway and in the 53rd minute the Netherlands found the equaliser with a goal by Beerensteyn. Just 10 minutes later the Netherlands took the lead with a goal by Grant, assisted by Miedema.

Michel McArdle then made his first substitution of the game which saw Kirsty Hanson,Eilidh Adams and Lauren Davidson come off for Freya Gregory, Martha Thomas and Claire Emslie.

Just 5 minutes after the triple substitution, McArdle then made another substitution, with Sam Kerr replacing Jenna Clark. 10 minutes later McArdle made his final substitution, replacing goal scorer Emma Lawton with Kirsty Smith.

This substitution meant that Kirsty Smith made her 60th cap after making her debut in 2014 against the Netherlands in a World Cup qualification play-off. The game then ended 2-1 in what was a very intense game.

Next up for Scotland

In the next international window Scotland face Germany in a double header, with the first game taking place on the 4th of May, then the reverse fixture in Germany on the 8th of May. It is yet to be determined who will take leadership of the team, as the Scottish FA has indicated that McArdle is expected to oversee only this training camp initially.