Heart manager Eva Olid criticises the ‘inhuman’ fixture schedule ahead of league restart

After a two-week break, the SWPL restarts this weekend after the split however, Hearts manager Eva Olid is less than happy with the fixture list insisting that it is “not human”.
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The Jam Tarts are fourth in the league and will only compete against the rest of the top six for the rest of the campaign, playing each of the twice. With the season due to end in less than two months, each team will have to play at least 10 games before the end of the season. For the Jam Tarts, many of these fixtures will be against fully-professional teams as they try and finish the season on a high.

“It is difficult because we are not a fully professional team”, Olid told the Edinburgh Evening News. “The schedule is crazy because we have five games without stopping, that doesn’t happen in the men’s league. In a professional league that doesn’t happen, for me it is strange that it is happening in a league that is not professional, just three teams are fully professional.

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“It is something that I don’t agree with because as a coach I need to take care of my players. We are so happy to be playing against the top three at a high level, but we are not happy about the schedule this last round.”

Eva Olid's team are guaranteed their best-ever finish in the SWPL this season. Credit: Malcolm MacKenzieEva Olid's team are guaranteed their best-ever finish in the SWPL this season. Credit: Malcolm MacKenzie
Eva Olid's team are guaranteed their best-ever finish in the SWPL this season. Credit: Malcolm MacKenzie

Hearts are currently in a transition to becoming a fully-professional club with 50% of their squad still amateur. This is unlike league rivals, Celtic, Rangers and Glasgow City who are now all full-time clubs. In order to combat this Olid believes the league should finish later in order to help the players welfare.

“Some of the players are working in the day”, Olid added. “We have a lot of Wednesday, Sunday, Wednesday, Sunday games, that for me it’s not human. It is not human for a professional team, imagine what it is like for teams like Partick, Hibs and us. Personally, it is something that I don’t know how we are going to do five games without stopping. You need a squad of 30 or so players to be able to do that.

“The league needs to finish later. I know we have the World Cup in July, but it is not safe for the players to play five matches without stopping. If we have to finish two weeks or a week and a half later it’s ok.”

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This Sunday, Olid’s side will travel to Petershill Park to take on Partick Thistle. The Midlothian side has already beaten the Glaswegian side twice away this season, most recently beating them 4-1 in the Scottish Cup. However, Olid is still wary of the quality the opposition possesses.

“That can give us a little confidence [the last result], but we cannot have a lot of confidence because they are six in the table for a reason”, Olid stated. “They are a team that fights every game, and they are so physical. They have a clear style of play, how they want to play with the players that they have and they do that very well. That for me is a very competitive team and we cannot go in with full confidence that we are going to win that game because it’s not real.”