Celtic Football Club women's team turns professional for the first time in its history from today, the Club has announced.

The club has confirmed that significant investment has been committed to this new professional model. Several existing players have already been moved onto professional contracts, and the Celtic squad for 2020 will be bolstered by some further signings, modern apprentices and continuum amateur players, which will all be announced over the coming weeks. 

The club is currently in the final stages of the process of appointing a new Head Coach to lead the first team forward into this modern era, and we expect an announcement shortly.

With the growth of women's football, there is no wonder that several sponsors have jumped on board to support this move by Celtics, this includes Indigo Unified Communications, Eleven Sports Media, Utilita and BeCordial Hotel Group.

The Head of Business Development for the Celtics Football club Gordon Kaye said,

"We are delighted to be leading the way in this area in Scotland and we are sure our move to professional status is one which will be hugely beneficial for the Club and our players. Our new professional arrangement aims to provide the same opportunities for women wishing to play the game at all levels as we currently do for men - as a Club famously open to all, this is hugely important to us."

"Building on recent progress, our objective will always be to aim higher and achieve more success and we believe our new professional status will allow us to do this. While we realise reaching the top spot in Scotland may not happen overnight, we always want to be the best in all we do and this is absolutely something we aspire to".

"It is a very exciting time for women's football and we are delighted to be driving forward with these exciting new plans."

With the season due to commence with a League Cup match on 9 February, the first team will be heading to Spain in mid-January for training camp.   

The team will be looking to hit the ground running and build on the performances from season 2019 which saw a marked improved in terms of league performance. The first team finished the season in third place level on points with Hibernian and eleven points behind the perennial league winners Glasgow City - who Celtic will face on the opening day of the League season, Sunday 23 February, at K-Park in East Kilbride

The women's game is evolving and interest is at an all-time high. Celtics going professional is a great opportunity to be at the forefront of improving the women's game in Scotland, developing greater opportunities for female players at the grassroots level to top-level and creating a clear career path for women and girls.