FootyChatter.com

Glasgow City were pipped to the SWPL title by Hibernian last season Managing director Fiona Mc Intyre hopes this season's slimmed-down Scottish Women's Premier League structure will go a long way to realising her "dream" of a totally full-time top flight. Mc Intyre believes it would be an "incredible achievement" if an all full-time division was achieved by 2035 - before a potential shared home nations World Cup. "I think that's the dream scenario, " Mc Intyre told BBC Scotland as fixtures for the 10-team league - two fewer than last season - were announced. It was only in recent years that Celtic, Heart of Midlothian, current champions Hibernian and Rangers created professional sides to challenge the dominance of the independent Glasgow City. Potter to manage Palace after Rangers exit Hibs and Glasgow learn Women's Champions League opponents Follow Scottish women's football on BBC Sport "Even if you look back three years, when we set the SWPL up, I don't think many would have comprehended that we'd be sitting with five full-time clubs already, " Mc Intyre said. "The absolute ambition is to have a full-time league, but it has to be a full-time sustainable league for our clubs and that's the challenge, because it costs significant money for clubs to go full-time. " The slimmed-down SWPL is designed to make fixtures more competitive each week. Teams will again play one another once home and away before the league split, but whereas last season, when it was two sections of six, this time it will be a top six and bottom four. While the top half play for the title and Champions League qualification for the remaining home and away games, the bottom four will battle to avoid relegation, with the bottom side relegated and the ninth-placed team taking part in a one-off play-off final against the promotion play-off winner from SWPL2. It means the top six will play 28 league fixtures and the bottom four will play 24 fixtures compared to 32 last term. "The number of games we have, particularly in SWPL 1, is particularly high, " Mc Intyre explained. "We have more games than any other league in Europe at the moment. "Also, the competitiveness of our games is a challenge. Pre-split in SWPL 1, the data shows us probably what we've all seen anecdotally, which is we don't have as competitive fixtures as we would like. "The upside is that, post-split, we have the most competitive league in Europe, so it's trying to marry all of those things together. " The new format also takes into consideration changes to world governing body Fifa's international calendar - and data designed to compare alternative league sizes. "From 2026, some of the international windows will run over consecutive weekends, so we lose weekend dates to our calendar, " Mc Intyre pointed out. "We essentially ran some algorithms to work out, if we stayed at 12, what difference does that would make if we change the format. If we go to 10, if we go to eight, how does that affect that goal differential in terms of competitiveness - and what we landed on was 10. "That was the optimum that allowed us to deliver more competitively but also retaining a significant number of games whilst reducing it down enough that it allows us to account for the changes that are coming to the calendar. " Mc Intyre points out that a smaller bottom half of the SWPL will reduce the number of meaningless games at the end of the season, while there will be increased competition at the top of SWPL2, with sides finishing second, third and fourth involved in promotion play-offs. Transfer news: Updates plus Kerkez and Mbeumo latest County Championship: Day four - text & radio Lyon relegated over finances and what that means for Palace's European hopes The all-star cast of The Celebrity Traitors revealed The behind-the-scenes story of the new F1 movie A compelling study of Britain's decline A relative of one of Stakeknife's victims speaks out 'Aberdeen savour the most perfect game ever played' How Mc Tominay became a Napoli icon after Man Utd exit Scotland men's internationals to be shown live on BBC Commonwealth Games: Why is it so special to be part of Team Scotland? From titles to tinpottery - rank Scotland's top 10 clubs The Commonwealth Games swimmer who might not see 40 Will 'sport's best dressed officials' be missed at Wimbledon? England chase 371 to seal brilliant win against India in first Test Video England chase 371 to seal brilliant win against India in first Test 'Like talking to Andy Murray' - impressionist quizzes tennis stars. Video'Like talking to Andy Murray' - impressionist quizzes tennis stars 'Duckett would've infuriated me as a bowler - he's one of world's best' In Pictures: Sporting photos of the week Who is the most iconic British & Irish Lion of all time? Which drivers are in danger of losing their seat for 2026? How Draper became a genuine Wimbledon contender Fleetwood's stumble gives US Bradley-sized Ryder Cup headache Which young players could light up Euro 2025? What do you remember about the 2013 Lions tour? Why Alcaraz is 'red-hot favourite' for third Wimbledon title Have the Club World Cup's innovations been good or bad? Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.