Seven players depart Hibs Women as Grant Scott faced with summer rebuild

New head coach has a busy summer of recruitment on his hands

Hibs Women have announced the departure of seven first-team players, leaving new head coach Grant Scott with a busy summer of recruitment ahead of him. The 49-year-old returned to the club following Dean Gibson’s exit after a spell in charge between 2018 and 2019 during which Hibs won the league and cup double and reached the knock-out stages of the Champions League.

Confirmed departures

England Under-19 captain Lucy Parry has returned to parent club Liverpool following the end of her loan deal. The talented full-back scored two goals in 36 appearances for Hibs and won the club’s player of the year award. Also leaving from the defensive ranks is goalkeeper Benedicte Haaland, who kept nine clean sheets in 36 games, and versatile right-sided Trinidad and Tobago internationalist Liana Hinds, who made 28 appearances.

Seven players will be leaving Hibs Women this summer

From the midfield Ava Kuyken departs having played 26 times and scoring once, but it is the attacking corps that Scott will need to focus on. Katie Lockwood, who joined in January after a spell with KIF Örebro in Sweden, moves on after seven goals in 19 games; Swedish forward Nor Mustafa is also departing after five goals in 19, often coming off the bench, while American forward Crystal Thomas is also leaving. The former Orlando Pride sharpshooter and USWNT youth internationalist netted eight times in 13 games but suffered an injury-hit second half of the season and was unable to add to her appearances or goal tally.

Who is in the squad for next season as things stand?

Scott has two goalkeepers in Ailey Tebbett and Dani Kosińska and an experienced defensive group that includes Leah Eddie, Siobhan Hunter, Poppy Lawson, Shannon Leishman, and player-coach Joelle Murray while Ellis Notley can also operate in defence. In midfield he can call on Notley, former Spartans star Micky McAlonie, and January arrival Brooke Nunn. Rachael Boyle and Shannon McGregor will also form part of a talented engine room when they return from long-term injury while 17-year-old Rosie Livingstone was also sidelined at the end of the campaign.

Forward options comprise Scotland youth internationalist Eilidh Adams; versatile academy graduate Kirsty Morrison, who is also returning from injury, and Lia Tweedie, who spent the first half of the campaign with Queen’s Park Women.