It has been quite the decade for Hannah Stewart and Aberdeen FC Women.

The rise of the women’s game not just in the North-east in that time but the whole country is nothing short of remarkable, and few players have witnessed this transformation as closely as Dons skipper Hannah Stewart. From Sunday League pitches to the Champions League with Glasgow City, she has lived every step of the journey.

There are few people better placed to recount the story of how an amateur team playing at Sunnybank can go from that to knocking on the door of full-time football, all in the space of ten years.

So to mark her 100th appearance for the Dons (it is worth mentioning that if the total included AFC Ladies appearances, the total would be much higher) Hannah did exactly that.

“I remember getting a call from Alan Smith who wanted to sign me when I was still at Buchan ladies. I was only in fourth or fifth year at school. Aberdeen Ladies was an established Premier League team, but I loved my time at Buchan, so it was difficult. However, Aberdeen was a step towards professional football, so I couldn’t say no.”

“Thank goodness I made that decision, because I haven’t looked back since.”

Joining from Buchan, it was a very different set up from what would follow in the years to come.

“We trained twice a week, at Garthdee, on the astro turf. We played at Sunnybank, on the junior’s pitch. There were no real facilities, it was really just a Sunday League pitch. There was no real crowd.”

“Even things like washing your kit, we were all doing that. Well, my Mum was.”

“Nowadays at Cormack Park, everything is in one place. Our kit is washed for us, we get food after training, and we have proper facilities. The Balmoral is a great surface compared to what we used to play on. Sunnybank was good for what it was, but when you aspire to be a professional team, the facilities we have now make a massive difference.”

The relationship with AFC that time was one that provided the kit, and that was about it. It was a start.

“The connection with the club was really just for getting kit. One season, we were given massive kits, they were leftover from the men. It felt like a step in the right direction though, because we were being recognised; in a small way we were part of the club.”

“It was a very competitive league then. One season we came third, we lost out to Celtic who finished second by a point on the last day. However, it was Glasgow City that were the real dominant force, they were beating everyone. Nobody could get near them.”

They say if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, and that adage rung true when Hannah headed South, and signed for the side that ‘nobody could get near’, in 2018.

It was there where she first encountered manager Scott Booth, someone working to professionalise a team that was doing their utmost to continue to grow. Sounds familiar…

“Scott phoned saying they wanted to sign me. It has come full circle now for sure. It was surreal, the set up they had, the ambition, it was incredible. It was the perfect time for me, I was a student, finishing off my degree, so the stars had aligned.”

“You were surrounded by players who were used to winning and who demanded the highest standards. That was something I wanted to be part of—to win the league, play in the Champions League, and challenge myself at the highest level in Scotland.”

Although not fully professional at that time, City were leading the charge towards that desired model.

“When you are in that winning environment, and you keep winning the league, you have to go grow. You have to get bigger and better. They made it so professional, even though the players weren’t professional, the standards were so so high, you acted like professionals.”

“The mindset we have now mirrors that of City at the time—focused on growth and professionalism. The biggest change is that Scott was less grey then! He demanded standards, he has the winning ethos, you have to aspire to win, so he hasn’t changed in that sense.”

“He is the best fit for us right now, where we are, and where we want to be. He has been there and done it, he knows what it takes. Players respond to that, and we are all aligned.”

After stints in Glasgow and Forfar, Hannah returned to a transformed Aberdeen setup in 2021. AFC Ladies was out, AFC Women was in, now very much a part of the club, based at Cormack Park, and back in the top flight. Stewart had returned.

“I got my degree, and then I knew my life wasn’t going to be in Glasgow. I had to decide do I prioritise my job, or do I try and go full-time, and I decided to come home.”

“I went to Forfar, Aberdeen weren’t back in the top division yet, and I got injured, and after eight months, I was back in Aberdeen.”

“I wasn’t ready to move to Glasgow to try and go full-time alongside their growth.

“I am happy with that decision, and I am happy with my life, and I am happy to watch the young girls here try and become the professional footballer that I wanted to be.”

I am so glad the opportunity is there for them.”

A slow 18-months back in the North-east exploded into life during the 2023/2024 season, with the appointment of Clint Lancaster as the first ever full-time manager of AFC Women. After pregnancy meant Nadine Hanssen stepped aside, Hannah was appointed as the new captain.

“Personally and as a footballer, last season made me love football again. It was amazing. Clint helped me a lot, both with my football and personally.”

“Clint didn’t just help me. He helped so many of us. Nobody could say a bad word about him, he did so much for everyone. He believed in me, he allowed me to play, and that was what I really needed. He did that with a lot of players, and it really worked.”

“To become the captain, it was really a proud moment. We were gutted to lose Nadine on a footballing basis, but we were so happy for her. I remember walking out at Pittodrie, captaining the side, I had my nephew with me, and it was one of the proudest days of my life. I am grateful for Clint, because he allowed me to do that.”

Lancaster’s stay in the North-East was a short lived one, and after a period of change, a familiar face in Hannah’s journey, Scott Booth, rocked up at Cormack Park.

The growth since his appointment in October is noticeable already.

“You can see there has been a step up – with the girls we have taken in, the staff we have taken in, things have gone up a notch.”

“We have upped the training, our analysis, everything is more professional, more intense.”

Forget the difference that ten years makes, the difference in the last two years is enough for Hannah to reflect on.

“Every season things go up, and it goes back to striving to improve every department.”

“I don’t think it is going to be long before there is girls doing this for a job at the club.”

“People like Kerry, like Toni, people are looking at Aberdeen, they think it is a good move for them, it is a good fit. When you are bringing players from all over, it does make it harder for local players, but it is creating that professional environment, and if you want to be a part of it, you have to act like a professional.”

“It is so good for local girls to see it can be an option – football can be a full-time job. When I was at school, it was never really taken seriously, it is different now.”

A very obvious mark of the development and growth would be a first ever appearance at Hampden in April for AFC Women, a Scottish Cup Quarter-final tie against St Johnstone standing in their way.

“We all want to play there. We all want to do it, we want to play there as a team, and it is something that we can do. We all want to get there.”

It is yet to be determined what the next ten years will look like for AFC Women, but for Hannah, there is an eagerness to be involved and to stick around for as long as possible.

After one hundred appearances and hundreds unofficially before that, there is still plenty more landmarks to be reached and achieved.

“I am proud to reach the landmark. I love leading the girls, I love being the captain, I want to help them, be there for them, and keep being a part of this team.”