Arsenal defender Jen Beattie wants more investment targeted towards girls in the Scottish grassroots to ensure those who dream of becoming professionals can envisage a clear path to following in her footsteps.
Beattie, 32, won 144 caps and scored 24 goals for Scotland before announcing her decision to step away from international football in January.
The Glaswegian and Gunners team-mate and captain Kim Little are amongst the highest-profile Scottish women in football, and Beattie feels a “responsibility” to leave the game in a better place than they found it.
She told the PA news agency: “The money needs to be put in to allow girls to have opportunities to go to training, whether that’s before or after school or university or whatever it is.
“Whether that’s the national team setup or clubs. It’s so important to celebrate volunteers and coaches and clubs who are investing in the grassroots, because I think grassroots is the most important time to be able to do that.
“[In Scotland] it’s definitely a space of growth. It’s hard to compare it to England, but there’s more and more numbers playing every year, and I think that’s the most important thing, making it more accessible, making it diverse and an equal opportunity for as many kids as possible.
“That’s the most important thing in Scotland. The more opportunity that is given to young kids the better, [so that] the pool is as big as possible. It’s giving support around schools, giving support around education, and creating a pathway up towards professionalism.”
Beattie began her senior career aged just 15 with Queen’s Park in the Scottish Women’s Premier League then joined Celtic before, in 2009, starting her first spell at Arsenal and winning a top-flight title in her debut season.
Spells with Montpellier and Manchester City – who also sent Beattie on loan to Australian side Melbourne City – followed before she returned to the Gunners in 2019 after the end of the Women’s Super League’s first fully-professional campaign.
Scotland are now more than halfway through their campaign in the new UEFA Women’s Nations League, a tournament that serves as the European qualifier for next summer’s Paris Olympics.
Bizarrely, if Scotland’s top talents have any hope of playing in France, they cannot fare better than group rivals England.
The Lionesses, currently third in Group 1, are the nominated home nation to qualify a Team GB, with only the group winners advancing deeper in the tournament where two Olympic berths are up for grabs.
England boss Sarina Wiegman is lined up to lead Great Britain should they qualify for the 12-team tournament.
Scotland sit bottom of their group with two games left to play, including one on December 5 against the Lionesses at Hampden Park, but World Cup finalists England have also struggled in the tournament, most recently losing to Belgium.
Little, who has since retired from international football, and Real Madrid midfielder Caroline Weir were the sole Scottish names on Hege Riise’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic squad, but the latter would face an uphill battle to be fit in time for next summer after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament in September.
While Beattie agreed it feels important to have Scottish representation in any Team GB squad, she is less sure about how ruthlessly competitive Dutchwoman Wiegman would approach the potentially sensitive situation.
Beattie added: “It’s completely up to Sarina. She is a mentality monster, she’s won back-to-back Euros, got to finals of World Cups, she knows what she’s doing, so I’m not going to give Sarina any advice on selection.
“But Scotland have had representation in previous tournaments and I 100 per cent think that there’s good enough girls to be picked for GB in that Scotland squad.”
Jen Beattie was speaking at the annual Scottish FA Grassroots Awards in partnership with McDonald’s Fun Football. The awards recognise volunteers who are dedicated to making a real difference to community football in Scotland.
Hayes has 'smile' back after stress made her feel 'unwell' at Chelsea
Emma Hayes revealed she feels refreshed as the United States head coach after stress at the end of her time at Chelsea made her feel "unwell".
Hayes was in charge of the Blues for 12 years, during which she won seven Women's Super League titles, including each of the last five between 2019-20 and 2023-24.
Overall, she oversaw 345 games in all competitions, winning 244 of those (70.72%-win rate).
The 48-year-old left Chelsea at the end of last season, pulling off a stunning comeback in the WSL title race to beat Manchester City to the title on goal difference, and took over as the USA women's head coach in May.
She led the team to Olympic gold in her first tournament, going unbeaten on their tournament run in Paris.
Asked about the perks of international football compared to a domestic level, Hayes admitted the latter had taken its toll on her.
"I don't have to sacrifice the things that made me healthy. I didn't feel healthy at the end, I actually felt unwell at the end of my time at Chelsea," she said in a press conference.
"It wasn't pressure, it was the stress and toll it took on me and doing that during menopause was even harder.
"To get on top of all of those things, I've got my mojo back and my smile and enjoyment back, which I didn't realise I had lost."
The USA will face England at Wembley on Saturday, and Hayes will face off against some of her former players, with Millie Bright, Hannah Hampton and Aggie Beever-Jones in the Lionesses squad.
Hayes, though, is determined to keep her unbeaten start as USA head coach intact against her home nation.
"I'm looking forward to seeing Sarina [Wiegman]," she said. "Of course, I need to go through a weird moment when the national anthems are being played.
"I'll hum along to it [God Save the King] being the English person I am, but also the same for the US one because I love it, I love both anthems.
"Beyond that weird moment and coming up against players I've gone to war with, it's business come kick-off. I hope it's an entertaining game and a sell-out."
Premier League MD12: Lucky winners and unlucky losers
Pep Guardiola may have signed a new contract at Manchester City, but there was no turnaround in fortunes for the Premier League champions.
City were humbled 4-0 by Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, losing a fifth straight game in all competitions.
Liverpool capitalised on that result, coming from behind to beat lowly Southampton 3-2 on Sunday and moving eight points clear at the top in the process.
Ruben Amorim made his bow as Manchester United boss in a 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town at Portman Road, while Chelsea and Arsenal are hot on Man City's heels.
We also saw a managerial departure, with Leicester City parting ways with Steve Cooper after four league matches without a win.
But, who were the unlucky losers, and lucky winners, from the weekend's Premier League fixtures?
Unlucky losers: Fulham
Man City were not the only team to ship four goals on Saturday, with Fulham also having that unwanted badge of honour following their 4-1 home loss to Wolves.
But while Wolves were excellent on the counter and clinical when their chances came, it is fair to say Fulham were unfortunate to concede four times, given they only gave up 1.3 expected goals against (xGA).
Indeed, Fulham and Wolves both had 10 shots, while both teams also had 23 touches in the opponents' box.
It was a bad day at the office for Marco Silva, but he can at least take solace that the numbers suggest they were somewhat unfortunate.
Unlucky losers: Bournemouth
Bournemouth were beaten 2-1 by Brighton on Saturday, as the Seagulls held off their south coast rivals despite Carlos Baleba's red card.
David Brooks pulled one back for Bournemouth late on, as Andoni Iraola's team fell short of their 1.6 xG.
Brighton, on the other hand, accumulated just 0.9 xG, the third-lowest total of any of the 18 games to have been played across Saturday and Sunday.
Bournemouth had 19 shots but only got five of them on target. Brighton, on the other hand, sent four of their six attempts on target.
Lucky winners: Tottenham
Time for some controversy...
Spurs were brilliant against City, with James Maddison marking his 28th birthday with a first-half double before Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson got in on the act after the break.
Yet, the metrics suggest Tottenham were fortunate to keep a clean sheet, with City - who had 23 attempts - accumulating 2.1 xG.
That is not to say Spurs were not impressive going the other way. They finished with 2.5 xG from just nine shots, showing they created high-calibre chances.
But should it really have been 4-0? The numbers suggest not, but then again, stats must always be used within context and should not be all we go off.
Mbappe position switch works wonders for Ancelotti
Carlo Ancelotti was satisfied his tactical decision to switch Kylian Mbappe's position in attack paid off in Real Madrid's 3-0 win over Leganes.
Mbappe scored his seventh goal of the season to help Madrid to a comfortable victory in LaLiga on Sunday.
However, his position in Madrid's front line has been a topic of debate since he joined the Spanish champions, with Mbappe having often played out wide while at Paris Saint-Germain.
And Ancelotti elected to switch Mbappe out to the left flank against Leganes, with Vinicius Junior spearheading Los Blancos' attack.
"Mbappe played on the left side, where he did well, and Vinicius on the inside," Ancelotti told reporters.
"We have to highlight their play to open the scoring. They did very, very well. Mbappe scored, after a fantastic assist from Vinicius. Little by little, they're both improving.
"Kylian is more used to playing there and today, for the team and for him, it was the best thing.
"Because playing on the outside brings more effort and Vinicius was back on Thursday. Meanwhile, Kylian had been training here for a week and a half, he was fresher."
Mbappe was not called up by France coach Didier Deschamps for this month's Nations League games, despite being Les Bleus' captain.
With an injury crisis at the back and a trip to Anfield to face Premier League and Champions League leaders Liverpool coming up, Ancelotti added he was hopeful of Lucas Vazquez, who has a hamstring strain, and Aurelien Tchouameni, who is recovering from a sprained left ankle, returning to action.
He was also upbeat about the contribution of Federico Valverde, who scored from a free-kick while filling in at right-back.
"The truth is that Fede, at the back, has done very well," said Ancelotti of the Uruguayan, who also wore the captain's armband.
"He's a fantastic fullback. After Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vazquez, the best right-back in the world. His problem is that he can play at this level in many positions and is the coach's problem to choose the best position for the team.
"Let's see if Lucas and Tchouameni can recover. If not, we will make decisions."
Jude Bellingham netted Madrid's other goal as Ancelotti's team closed to within four points of LaLiga leaders Barcelona, who drew 2-2 with Celta Vigo on Saturday.
Madrid also have a game in hand on Hansi Flick's side.
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