Aberdeen Women defender Loren Campbell believes a ‘standard’ has been set now club stadiums have hosted women’s matches, and is looking forward to being involved in another such game this weekend.
The Dons travel to Ibrox on Sunday, where Rangers will play at their club stadium for the first time as a professional outfit.
It’s another historic occasion which involves both teams, as last month Emma Hunter and Gavin Beith’s side played at Pittodrie for the first time, where they hosted Rangers.
Almost 2,000 fans were in attendance that evening, with just as many – or even more – expected to be at Ibrox this weekend.
Celtic, Hibernian, Hearts and Motherwell have also played at their ‘men’s stadiums’ this season, while Hamilton’s New Douglas Park doubles up as the their women’s home turf.
And Campbell, 30, who has been at Aberdeen since under-13’s level, is glad to see the women’s game progress, and hopes occasions like these signal a better future.
“It is a long time coming,” Campbell said. “The older ones can maybe appreciate it more because we’ve had years of playing football without moments like this.
“It’s good that across the league we’ve set this sort of standard now, and there’s an expectation that we’ll play there again.
“For some of our squad, who are 17 and 18, thankfully it will be normal for them in their football careers.”
Ticket details ahead of this Sunday's match with Rangers at Ibrox.
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— Aberdeen FC Women (@AberdeenWomen) April 21, 2022
Campbell admits she might only have one or two seasons left playing, but is delighted that when her career does come to an end, she’ll step away with such iconic memories.
She added: “It’s the icing on the cake to be able to say that I’ve played in these big stadiums.
“Maybe it is nearer the end of my career, so it’s nice to be part of moments like these to look back on and be proud that I was involved.”
Aberdeen don’t want to leave Ibrox empty handed
When the two sides met at Pittodrie, Campbell experienced rare feelings of pre-match nerves, much like the rest of the squad – who wanted to impress a home crowd.
But on Sunday the onus will be on Rangers to deliver, and the defender hopes the Dons can take advantage of that.
Campbell said: “It’s their home game and their crowd so the pressure will be slightly off us.
“We want to go down there and play the best we can – and hopefully it will be a bit less nerve-wracking than it was at Pittodrie.
“We need to go there and show that we can compete.
“At Pittodrie we showed that, and to go in 0-0 at half-time was a massive positive.
“We want to frustrate their play and then if we can hit them on the counterattack – which is our style of football – then we’ll definitely be looking to take points off them.”
The odds are stacked against the Dons as they come up a Rangers side who are undefeated in the league and set atop of the SWPL 1 table.
If they do succeed in taking points against Malky Thomson’s side, they will be just the second team to do so this term, after Glasgow City drew 1-1 with Rangers in October.
“It would be a point or three points that nobody in the league would expect us to get,” Campbell added.
“And nobody has managed to beat them this season, so if we take anything away from Ibrox it will be massive.
“They’re fully professional and have that structure behind them, but if we can prove that we’re not far away from them then that will help our club go in that professional direction.”