Midfielder Natasha Bruce left the club this week for a new challenge with Dundee United after over a decade of wearing Aberdeen red.

The player started off playing with East End who became Aberdeen Ladies when Bruce was at the club. She transitioned to the first team at the age of fifteen and has been a regular in the squad ever since.

Aberdeen Ladies became Aberdeen FC Women in 2019 when the club took the women’s side onboard. AFCW recently played their 100th competitive game with Natasha being one of just five players still in the squad that played in the very first game against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2019.

“I can remember the first game quite well as it wasn’t all that long ago. There is a core group of us that have been here since the football club took on the women’s team. There have been a lot of changes over that three-and-a-half seasons. We got the successive league wins and promotions and then found ourselves having to adapt to being in the top flight last season.

“It’s been a really special thing to be part of those first one hundred games. There are a lot of good young players at Aberdeen that will hopefully be here for the next hundred games and beyond. It’s been a really positive journey on the whole to this point and I think the squad both individually and as a whole have come on a great deal in that time.”

It’s easy to forget that some of the Aberdeen Women players were representing Aberdeen long before the club took the team on board. The Ladies side were one of the top sides in the country before suffering back-to-back relegations in Natasha’s time at the club.

The team went through some very hard times and there was appoint that the players were having to take their own training. It’s no over-exaggeration to say that Aberdeen Women may not be here if it weren’t for Bruce and her team-mates keeping things going through that difficult period.

“I’ve been with Aberdeen for over ten years, with Aberdeen Ladies and then when the football club took on the women’s team. We’ve been up and down the leagues over that period of time and a core group of us were there through all of that and saw huge changes in the club over that time. It’s been a really special time to be here and be part of that journey.”

The 28-year-old leaves the Dons back in the top flight of Scottish women’s football and has been a huge influence of the current group of young players in the squad.

“It’s great that the players are now able to train at the facilities at Cormack Park and the league is becoming more and more professionalised. I think it’s important not to forget where you’ve come from and we haven’t always had these things in the women’s game.

“It’s important that the younger players coming through know how hard we’ve had to work over the years to get to where we are. It’s been a privilege for us to be part of those changes but we’ve also worked really hard to get here.”

Natasha has been one of the biggest characters in the squad in her time at Aberdeen and her influence both on and off the pitch will be missed. She leaves with the best wishes of everyone at the club for her new challenge at United and a big thank you for all her efforts and commitment in over a decade in red.

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