Rachel Corsie is the great-granddaughter of Donald Colman.

Aberdeen-born, Hazlehead educated, Rachel has become a legend in her contemporary sphere, with professional spells in both England and the US, over a hundred caps for her country, and now the honour of becoming the first Scot to captain the team to the Women’s World Cup finals.

The defender is a columnist for RedMatchday Magazine this season and recently spoke about her family in a recent interview in the publication:

“I do know a bit about him because I did a school talk on him when I was eight! He was my chosen subject. It was a long time ago that he was involved with the club but I am proud of the connection. He was on my mum’s side of the family. My Grandma still speaks a lot about my Great Grandfather and the things he would do. I quite often come home and say things and she can correlate that with a lot of things he would say to her, which is quite impressive.

“More recently, I have learned just how important a figure he was in the club’s history. He was not just an ex-Aberdeen player. He was the trainer, he was the coach, and he built the dugout.

“I also know that his name at birth was Donald Cunningham, but his mum did not want him to play football. So he played as Donald Colman, which I think was his mum’s maiden name, so she would not know! In those days, playing football wasn’t seen as being something that would be a good career.

“The club is in the blood. I had a season ticket in the South Stand. My mum has had a season ticket for 30 years and she comes with her best friend and they have pretty much always had the same seats near the halfway line. Obviously, I could not sit with mum when I was younger! I had a season ticket with various friends. I would sit a few rows in front of my mum so she could still keep an eye on me but get I could get away with a little bit of mischief!

“That was between the ages of 11 and 15. After that, my own playing started to take over a bit so I could not come as regularly but I would still try and get along. From that era, my favourite players were Kevin McNaughton, Robbie Winters and before then, Billy Dodds and Duncan Shearer. Around that time there were some mixed years.

They’re some good times and also some really bad ones! A number of games, by the end, there were not too many people left sitting around me. I was always there to the end.

“I get a bit of stick because I am one of the few in the Scotland team who is a really big fan of their club. I still follow what is going on at Pittodrie wherever I am in the world.”

Rachel Corsie is rightly proud of her famous great-grandfather. He would be extremely proud of her too.