Game: Cove Ladies FC v AFC Women
Competition: SWF League North
Day & Date: Sunday 19th May 2019
Kick Off: 1.00 pm
Venue: Balmoral Stadium, Wellington Circle, Altens, Aberdeen

After a weekend off Aberdeen Women resume their season on Sunday when they play Cove Ladies at the Balmoral Stadium.

Mark Gordon spoke this week to Carrie Doig:

Aberdeen FC Women sit proudly at the top of the SWFL1 North table after a positive start to the campaign which has seen them score 41 goals in their opening eight games.

In addition to their high scoring performances the Dons have also been mean in defence, conceding just four times and recording five clean sheets so far in the league. That aspect is particularly pleasing for centre-back Carrie Doig.

“A main target for us every game is keeping a clean sheet, we were disappointed to let a couple in recently and we spoke about getting back on track defensively, so not conceding in the last few games has been good”.

Carrie has played football from a young age and has been with Aberdeen since joining up at under-13 level. “I’ve always played since primary school. I started with my school team in primary and a local girls’ team. As soon as I moved up to academy school, I joined Aberdeen at under-13 and I’ve stayed with them ever since”.

As well as keeping an eye on opposition attackers in the Dons’ defence, Carrie also has to look after a class of Primary School children in her full-time job. “I’m a primary teacher at a school called Kellands in Inverurie, so it’s pretty full-on working and having football pretty much every night of the week, as well as the games on a Sunday”.

Despite working full-time, the defender admits that she enjoys having to balance work and football. “It’s a massive commitment and sometimes it can be tricky. It means sacrificing things and my life is literally just work and football, I don’t do much else but I enjoy it so that makes it worth it for me”.

Doig was particularly pleased that the club took on the women’s team at the start of the year, as she is a massive Aberdeen fan. “Just to wear the Aberdeen top is quite nice. I’m a big Aberdeen fan, I always have been. It means a lot that the club have taken on the women’s team and all the extra publicity that has brought means I’ve had so much more people talking to me about it, as they see how we get in our games”.

Carrie believes the players are already seeing the difference that the club’s support has made. “The coaching has been amazing and the sports science team, strength and conditioning every Wednesday, you can see it in games, especially towards the end because we’re still going when you can see other teams tire. The step up in coming to Aberdeen has made all of us step up our own games as well”.

The change to being an Aberdeen FC Women player has also earned the teacher some extra kudos with her pupils. “It’s made a massive difference all the extra support we’ve had. The publicity has been massive and so much more people are seeing us and hearing about us and being a teacher, the kids think it’s amazing that I play for Aberdeen Women”.

The 26-year-old was also quick to praise the management team of Emma Hunter and Harley Hamdani. “It’s been massive having them coming in right from the start and they had a clear philosophy of what we had to do and a path of where they wanted us to go and they got us all on-board. Their professionalism really made us step up and be strict with ourselves to train hard and do things right”.

“A big thing I like is that they bring us into decisions as well. When we have a team meeting, they ask us our opinions and that’s translated into how we move forward. It’s a big thing for us being one team and coming together, making decisions together and then that showing on the pitch, knowing you’ve been part of the decision-making process”.

Doig isn’t a stranger to a bit coaching herself in her day-job. “I coach the teams at our school so I’ve got a few boys teams but I’ve got a girls team as well, which I love. It’s girls that would never want to join a club but they want to play for fun and we just have a really good time. I think after I finish playing, I would like to try and get my badges and go into coaching”.

As Carrie looks towards the rest of the season, her mind is focussed on shutting out her opponents. “Promotion is the big target overall, for me it’s to keep as many clean sheets as we can for the rest of the season. We’ve got some really tough games coming up, so a big thing for us in defence will be to keep a clean sheet”.

“I think we’ve really come together as a team this season. Last season was tough for us but being in a lower league this season, we’ve been able to develop on our own style of play and already we can see that we’ve improved as a team”.