The fifth edition in its history, we are extremely excited to confirm our annual list of the top 30 players in the Scottish Women’s Premier League for 2025.
Scotland midfielder Kirsty McLean become the youngest winner of the award last year before bagging a move across the border to the Women’s Super League with Liverpool in the summer, meaning this year’s list has a new name at the top of the pile.
The second player to move to the English top tier immediately after winning this award, former Celtic’s centre-back Caitlin Hayes claimed the award in 2023 prior to her switch to Brighton, while Scotland centurion and Glasgow City legend Hayley Williams remains our only back-to-back winner, having claimed the honours in 2021 and 2022.
So how does the list work, you may ask? We ask a panel of 10 judges, including current and former SWPL players, coaches, experts, and journalists to name their 10 top best players in order from the top tier over the last 12.
Each judge is given the following rules for voting:
- Only one person per SWPL club can vote.
- Votes cannot include a player from their own club, to ensure choices are not guided by club or professional loyalties.
- The players chosen must be currently playing in the SWPL.
- Vote must remain anonymous.
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 2025 from position 30 to No 1.
9. 22: Lisa Forrest - Glasgow City 🆕 (Last year: N/A)
A title winner with Glasgow City at the age of just 16, Forrest has long been viewed as one of Scotland's best young players, but has developed at a rapid rate this season. Talented with a capital T, she is already on nine league goals for the season, despite starting just five times. The confident 19-year-old attacker is making a real impact with the league leaders this season. | SNS Group Photo: SNS Group
10. 21: Kim Shin-ji - Rangers - 🆕 (Last year: N/A)
Signed on loan from Roma in the summer, the South Korean international is a dynamic and technically gifted central midfielder that possess a high on-pitch IQ and top-tier vision. | Rangers FC Photo: Rangers FC
11. 20: Emily Whelan - Glasgow City ⬇️ (Last year: 4th)
A big-game player with unmatched energy, the Republic of Ireland international embodied the hard working, technically gifted Glasgow City side that she is part of. Originally signed for the club as a striker, Whelan's hard work and lighting pace have seen her flourish as a winger over the last two seasons | SNS Group Photo: SNS Group
12. 19: Maria McAneny - Celtic 🆕 (Last year: N/A)
The 21-year-old first made this list back in 2021, while sparkling on loan with Hearts. Now one of Celtic's key players, McAneny is a fully fledged Scotland international, scoring on her national team debut in a 1-1 draw with Ukraine. Bagged the fastest goal in SWPL earlier this month when she chipped Hibs' goalkeeper just four seconds into the game. | SNS Group Photo: SNS Group