It was a great night for Aberdeen FC Women at the end of season SWF Awards, Bayley Hutchison won the Sport Scotland Youth Player of the Year award. Eilidh Shore was named the SWFL Division One Player of the year. The SWFL Coach of the Year Prize went to AFC Co Managers Emma Hunter and Harley Hamdani and Aberdeen were named SWFL Team of the Year.

A vital member of that team is Lauren Gordon, and she was also a recent award winner as Lauren became the first AFC Women’s player to pick up the MINTRA GROUP Moment of the Month award for her stunning goal against Cove Rangers.

Looking back at her goal, Lauren told us, “I just remember the ball coming to me and I just hit it! I don’t actually remember being that far out, but watching it back, I was surprised how far out I was. I saw the keeper off her line, so I thought why not have a hit?

“I shouldn’t admit it, but I have watched it back about a million times! I still can’t believe I scored. It was an important goal too, as it meant we managed to get a draw against Cove. Had we lost that game and results not gone our way, it could have been a tighter finish to things at the end of the season.

“I scored 14 goals in 22 games but I left my scoring till late in the season. At the start of the campaign, I did not score as much as I would have liked to, but in the second half, I took on board the feedback from Emma and Harley and tried to get myself in the box more and that led to a few more goals. I started to get myself into the right areas.

“I feel that being the number nine, being the main striker, you need to score as many goals as you can. In saying that, I do feel that I do contribute to the team in other ways. The style I play is more dropping in than being high up the pitch. I like to play the faster players in the team in behind. That is how I work. The analysis we do does not track assists yet, but I would like to have seen how many I got!

“I’ve enjoyed my role and really enjoyed the season. It’s my favourite position to play. The formation we play, it suits my style, dropping in and holding the ball up and linking things up with the wide players running beyond me. It has helped add to my game in different areas.

“Over the season we started to get a better understanding of how we all played, each player’s strengths and weaknesses and we will take that knowledge into next season. Also fitness wise I worked very hard so I do feel that I developed and I hope I can continue to develop next season as well. The sports science side has made a difference because it is adding strength to my game. It allowed me to be more physical when I was holding the ball up. Last season, it was more of a battle and the league was very physical, but next season more of the teams will have the ball on the ground.”

All the girls in the AFC set-up have to make a huge commitment to fit the football around the rest of their lives, but what does a typical week look like for Lauren?

“Monday is a night off from Aberdeen but I normally go to the gym or to a spin class in the morning before work. Tuesday night is a coaching session and we look back at how the weekend game went and talk about that before going into training. Wednesday night is a gym session, Thursday night is another training session as we start to build for the game at the weekend.

“Friday night is normally a gym and then a Saturday I will take a day off to rest up before the game. Then Sunday is game day. It’s hectic, especially as a lot of the girls are working full-time or are in full time education. It is a big commitment but one every one of the girls enjoys.

“I think we have got a great mix in the squad between youth and experience. The experienced girls try and help the younger ones, although they might not always like it! But they get told! It works really well and hopefully we can keep building that team spirit and crack on next season.

“Everyone is excited about the new season. As soon as the league was won, we started to think about our next challenge. Everyone is ready to see what it brings. We have shown in the Scottish Cup games that we can compete at that level so it will be interesting to see what happens. Pre-season will start in January and then the season starts in February!”

Lauren is something of a veteran of life with this team and has been through tough times with the side, seeing the club yo-yoing between the leagues in recent years before the team was officially taken over by AFC last summer.

“I’m proud to say that I am one of the ones who has been through it all, from the lowest point to now. It has been tough, to stay committed and to stay with the team and the club through all the bad points, but I have stuck with it and like all the girls who have done the same, we have earned the right to enjoy what is happening now.

“It’s exciting not just here, but in Scotland in general. There is so much more potential. It’s great to see how well Glasgow City have done in Europe, that helps put women’s football in Scotland on the map. There is a long way to go, but the game has taken big steps and moved forward. The World Cup brought a lot of interest and people in women’s football.

“Hopefully the game will continue in that right direction.”