Boroughmuir manager Suzy Shepherd ‘isn’t surprised’ by Emma Watson’s success

Suzy Shepherd personally coached Scotland starlet Emma Watson with the Boroughmuir manager insisting she has all the “makings of a really special player”.

Watson spent five years at Boroughmuir coming through their academy before moving onto Rangers. In that time Shepherd, also oversaw the youngster's development as she trained her one-to-one. The 17-year-old put in a scintillating display on Tuesday where she scored a brace for Scotland on only her second appearance for her country. Looking back her time spent with the Rangers midfielder, Shepherd always knew she was destined for big things.

“It’s absolutely brilliant”, Shepherd told the Edinburgh Evening News. “Emma [Watson] was at the club for five years and I also personally trained her in the lead of her trying to get into the performance school since she was 12 years old. I worked with Emma [Watson] quite a bit and she is an absolute joy to coach. She has got a fantastic attitude and she just wants to learn and develop; you could ask her to jump and she would say how high. She just wants to go to the very top and she has all the attributes to do that.

“As for the club, it is really pleasing. That’s another one who has come through our pathway and has obviously moved onto a professional contract at Rangers. Other players have moved onto other SWPL1 teams or maybe get another scholarship. It is just pleasing to see another player come through that pathway and she is still so young she is still only 17.

Suzy Shepherd's side are five games unbeaten in the SPWL2. Credit: Jack Dawson

“I didn’t actually coach her team at Boroughmuir but I did coach one-to-one away from the club, that is what I do for a living. I’m a personal trainer and I did one-to-one sessions with her on a weekly for a year and a half. Her attitude and her application every single session was always wanting to learn. Working on her right or left foot, she was always asking loads of questions. You could tell that she had the makings of a really special player.”

Boroughmuir is the biggest women’s team in Scotland and prides itself on its youth system. Watson’s recent success could well inspire other youngsters to follow in her footsteps and make it into the national team. Shepherd believes that there are many in the academy who could well become the next star.

“There’s a few sort of progressing into the first team, and there are more getting training opportunities with the first-team”, Shepherd added. “I definitely think that there is another few stars in the making. We are just looking to give everyone opportunities at the level they are capable of playing. They have the original pathway, the performance pathway and on that performance side you can see that they are constantly progressing through the age groups and into the first team which is really pleasing to see.”

Shepherd’s side are back in action on Sunday as they travel to Queen’s Park. Boroughmuir are currently fourth, five points off the promotion play-off place which could see them promotion into the SWPL1.