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Matchday 19 of the 2025/26 SWPL campaign, and the first of the post-split awaits the women of steel this weekend, as they travel North to face Aberdeen at Balmoral Stadium.

Redemption will be on the mind of the visitors, who will return to competitive action this weekend following a fortnight-long international break.

Motherwell will seek to right the wrongs from their previous meeting with the Dons, with the hosts striking in the latter stages to complete a narrow 2-1 victory.

The Tale of the Tape

Motherwell

Iain Robinson’s side will face a daunting fight to preserve their top-flight status, with the women of steel ahead of Aberdeen in the relegation playoff position on goal difference. Motherwell sit four-points adrift of Montrose, who narrowly missed out on the top-six, after closest-rivals Partick Thistle netted a decisive 94^th-minute winner.

The women of steel must reverse their recent misfortunes, with the Lanarkshire side without a victory in their last seven. Victory this weekend could open up a three-point advantage over Aberdeen, and a 12-point lead over Hamilton, who sit at the foot of the SPWPL table.

Four players were involved in international action, with Jenna Penman representing the Scotland under-23 squad alongside Sophie Townsley and Mia McArthur, who both featured for the Scotland under-19s. Recent addition, Keri Halliday also added to her caps for the Northern Ireland senior team.

Aberdeen

The Dons remain the women of steel’s closest-rivals in this closely-fought Scottish Power Women’s Premier League campaign. Aberdeen’s last league victory came against Motherwell in January, with the hosts netting a decisive late winner to earn a narrow 2-1 victory.

Scott Booth’s side have since picked up one-point after being held to a 2-2 draw against Hamilton Accies before successive defeats to both halves of the Edinburgh divide. A six-nil defeat to hearts preceded a three-nil defeat to Hibernian.

Ticket Information 

Tickets can be purchased through the matchday turnstiles at Balmoral Stadium or through Aberdeen’s ticketing platform HERE. Both cash and card payments are accepted.

• Adult – £10.
• Concession (Over-65s and Under-17s) – £5.
• Under-11 – FREE TO ENTER.

Follow our live matchday coverage on the Motherwell Women X (formerly Twitter) account.

Aston Oxborough has returned to the club following a training injury to Matty Connelly. 

Connelly suffered the injury during a training session this week.

As a result, we have exercised the option to emergency recall Oxborough from his loan spell at Dunfermline.

We anticipate this recall to only be temporary, and should Connelly’s recovery go according to plan, Oxborough will be able to rejoin Dunfermline on loan at some stage.

Oxborough has kept three clean sheets in his four appearances for the Pars, which included a 3-0 win over Premiership side Aberdeen, which saw Neil Lennon’s side reach Hampden and the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup.

Speedy recovery, Matty, and welcome back, Aston.

The wait is almost over. 28 years of heartache and missed opportunities are now behind us. Scotland are heading to the World Cup this summer, and those who aren’t heading to the USA can join us in ML1 for our ‘Scotland’s Home Party’ at Fir Park. 

You can join us in the Cooper Bar to watch all three matches against Haiti, Morocco and Brazil as Steve Clarke’s team look to make the country proud.

Tickets are restricted and can be purchased online now for our ‘Scotland’s Home Party’. Cost is £5 to secure your seat and includes an arrival drink.

Book your ticket online here.

Our World Cup campaign begins on Sunday 14 June, against Haiti, with the match kicking off at 2am UK Time. We then face Morocco on Friday 19 June at 11pm before a blockbuster finale against former world champions Brazil on Wednesday 24 June at 11pm.

• Haiti v Scotland // Sun 14 June, 2am
• Scotland v Morocco // Fri 19 June, 11pm
• Scotland v Brazil // Wed 24 June, 11pm

Come and cheer on Steve Clarke’s men from Fir Park at our Home Party!

*Strictly over 18’s only

*The suite will close 30 mins after the final whistle

It was nine games unbeaten for Motherwell as they headed back to Dens Park to play their rearranged match against Dundee. 

Near 1400 Motherwell fans made the trip in the sunshine to see if the Steelmen could extend their run to ten games unbeaten.

But facing off against a Dundee side on the up under Stephen Pressley, it was never going to be an easy afternoon. Tawanda Maswanhise and Lukas Fadinger went close to opening the scoring, but it was the hosts who opened the scoring in the first-half.

Now with something to hang onto, Dundee defended their penalty box robustly, and it would take some magic from Callum Slattery to level the game as we entered the latter stages.

But being level didn’t last long, with Dundee scoring minutes later to retake the advantage and eventually inflict Motherwell’s fourth league defeat of the season.

The travelling crowd were full of life at full time, giving the players and staff plenty of encouragement despite the defeat. And with a trip to Celtic up next, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Motherwell are on the road again on Saturday 14 March against Celtic in the William Hill Premiership. 

Kick off is 3pm.

How to follow the game

TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT FOR THIS MATCH! 

Tickets for this fixture are physical so therefore must be collected prior to the game or posted out. Postage will be available up until 10^th March. There will be no on the day sales at Celtic Park.

If you are outside the UK, you can watch the game via Motherwell TV.

Should you be in the UK, it will be live commentary only.

Motherwell’s Fortunes

Motherwell suffered their fourth defeat in the Premiership this season against Dundee last weekend, ending a nine-game unbeaten run.

The match against Dundee was a game in hand, meaning there was no change to the Premiership standings going into this weekend. Tawanda Maswanhise remains the league’s top scorer with 16 goals in 26 games.

Calum Ward also leads the way in Premiership clean sheets, with the Motherwell number one on 16 for the season. The Steelmen will be looking to replicate the performance levels of the previous meeting between the two sides at Fir Park. Goals from Ibrahim Said and Elliot Watt earned Motherwell their first win over Celtic in 11 years.

Opposition Report

Celtic moved past their rivals Rangers in the Scottish Cup last time out, winning on penalties at Ibrox to advance to the semi-finals.

It’s now four games unbeaten for Martin O’Neill’s side as they look to close the gap to Hearts at the top of the table. Benjamin Nygren is second in the top scoring charts in the Premiership with 15 goals so far, but has 19 in all competitions.

Callum McGregor and Kieran Tierney both missed Celtic’s last match, with the latter expected to return for Saturday. Auston Trusty will be suspended for the game, with Engels, Carter-Vickers, Jota, Johnston and Osmand all out also.

Jens Berthel Askou reacts to Dundee defeat.

Another month, another five games. February was jam-packed as the Steelmen continued to catch the headlines. 

Action against Rangers, Aberdeen, St Mirren and Dundee United resulted in another successful month. But the mindset doesn’t change, and as Tawanda Maswanhise and Elliot Watt say, we’ll let everyone else do the talking off the pitch.

We will remain focused and ignore the noise.

Emmanuel Longelo and his Motherwell teammates are delighted to be receiving praise from external outlets, but insists the work must continue until the end of the season so they can finish the job. 

The defender believes the full team must receive credit for what they have achieved to this point.

International Round-up

Motherwell had three first-team players representing their respective countries over the March international break.

The Scottish youth-international trio of Sophie Townsley, Mia McArthur and Jenna Penman all featured for Scotland at their respective age categories. Here’s how they got on.

Sophie Townsley

A consistent presence in a Scotland jersey, forward Sophie Townsley retained her place in Head Coach, Gary Doctor’s 20-player squad, who travelled South of the Belgian capital, Brussels – facing the Red Devils in a double-header of friendlies in Tubize.

Both matches served as preparation for the National team’s forthcoming second round of UEFA European Qualifiers.

Townsley unfortunately faced a minor injury setback during the opening training session, and despite being named amongst the substitutes for both matchday’s, the forward did not receive any minutes, with Scotland held to a draw in matchday one, before defeating Belgium in matchday two.

Mia McArthur

Midfielder Mia McArthur joined fellow Rangers loanee, and international teammate Sophie Townsley on the plane to the Belgian capital, with McArthur named in the Scottish midfield for the opening matchday. Scotland were held to a 1-1 stalemate, with Hearts’ Jess Husband converting the equaliser, with a precise free-kick.

McArthur also featured in the second meeting between the sides, returning to the pitch as a second-half substitute, with Scotland defeating the hosts 2-1. Former Motherwell striker, Laura Berry, and Liverpool’s Neve McDonald both found the target.

Jenna Penman

A late call-up for the Scotland under-23 squad, defender Jenna Penman travelled to the North of Scotland amongst Michael McArdle’s 18-strong squad to face the Netherlands at the Sarens PSG stadium in Inverness.

Penman was named amongst the substitutes, with the 22-year-old replacing Partick Thistle’s, Addie Handley in the latter stages of the game.