When women's Edinburgh derby will be played after Hearts and Hibs learn fixtures for SWPL 1 season

The first Edinburgh derby between Hearts Women and Hibs Women will be played on November 27 after the fixtures for the SWPL 1 season were announced.

Dean Gibson’s side will host their capital rivals before the two play again with Hearts as the home side on February 26. Whether they square off again will depend on league placing as the SWPL 1 will split into two sections of six after the second round of games.

This is the first campaign where the newly-revamped SWPL will come under SPFL jurisdiction. The top league was expanded to 12 teams after going with eight and then ten in each of the previous two campaigns.

Eva Olid’s Hearts team will begin the season with a home meeting against Partick Thistle on Sunday, August 7. Hibs face a much sterner test as they will travel to Scottish Cup winners Celtic.

Hibs won all three fixtures between the two sides last season. Picture: SNS

Both teams will be looking to improve upon performances last season. Hibs finished in fourth. While it was an expected position given the resources of Celtic and Rangers and the previous dominance of Glasgow City, it was still a disappointment to finish 17 points adrift of those three and 34 points off the top.

And while Hearts can be happy with their eighth place showing, they still finished nine points and two positions behind newly-promoted side Aberdeen. They announced a change to semi-professional status toward the end of last season and have invested in the squad over the summer.

Hibs too have made a number of signings, while Gibson was given the role as full-time manager on a two-year contract.

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