The fourth edition in its history, we are excited to announce our annual list of the top 30 players in the Scottish Women’s Premier League for 2024.
Celtic’s Caitlin Hayes was the winner of last year’s award, and she doubled up by playing a pivotal role in the Ghirls maiden title win May. Her win meant Glasgow City’s Hayley Lauder - winner in 2021 and 2022 - saw her winning streak come to an end. But can Hayes go on a streak of her own by winning the award in back-to-back years?
With Scottish women’s football now boasting more professional players and teams than ever before, we began to ask a panel of current SWPL players, coaches, players, ex-players and SWPL experts for their list of the top 10 best players in the league over the last year.
Each judge was given the following rules for voting:
- Only one person per SWPL club can vote.
- Your votes can not include a player from your own club, to ensure choices are not guided by club or professional loyalties.
- The players you choose must be currently playing in the SWPL.
- Your vote must remain anonymous.
- Choose your top 10 players in the SWPL.
From here, we used the metric that each player is awarded points for their ranking (ie: position one = 10 points, position two = 9 points, position three = 8 points etc.) we then add together the points from each vote to give us the definitive of the year’s best players in the SWPL.
Here is our annual list of the top 30 players in the Scottish Women's top tier for the year 2024 from 30-1.
29. 2. Caitlin Hayes - Celtic ⬇️ (Last year: 2nd)
Our winner last year, Hayes has been pipped to the post for a second consecutive win by just one point in this year's voting. A title winner with Celtic in May, Hayes has developed into Republic Of Ireland's best centre-back in the last 12 months, and will once again be vital to any success Celtic will have this season. | SNS Group
30. 1: Kirsty Maclean - Rangers ⬆️ (Last year: 6th)
At just 19-years-old, Rangers midfielder Maclean is the youngest ever player to be named as the SWPL's top player in our annual top 30 list - and it is no surprise. Nicknamed 'Ini' after legendary Spanish midfielder Andres Iniesta, she has already been capped seven times by Scotland, named Rangers Players' Player of the Year 23/24 and nominated for both PFA Women's and Young Player of the Year. An outstanding talent. | SNS Group