Inverness Caley Thistle Women manager Karen Mason says Scottish Cup tie against Rangers is biggest since club came under ICT banner
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Manager Karen Mason says Sunday’s Scottish Cup match against Rangers is the biggest game in Inverness Caledonian Thistle Women’s history.
The Caley Jags go up against the top flight leaders on Sunday afternoon, with the game kicking off at 1pm at the Caledonian Stadium – with entry by donation to encourage as many people as possible to attend.
There is a lot of history linking the two clubs, but it has been more than eight years since the two teams last met, and then it was under very different circumstances.
At the time ICT, then known as Inverness City, were a Premier League side themselves taking on an amateur Rangers outfit.
Even before that, though, Inverness were the opponents for one of the first ever women’s matches to be held at Ibrox, and the two clubs earned promotion to the SWPL together in the 2008-09 season.
Since Inverness began to drop down the pyramid when women’s football in Scotland was restructured in 2015, though, their paths have not crossed again until now.
In the meantime, Rangers have been flooded with investment, allowing their players to go full time and returning a maiden Scottish title in 2022.
Now, they sit at the top of the SWPL table, meaning it truly is Scotland’s best visiting Inverness on Sunday.
“I would say it’s our biggest game in our history as Caley Thistle,” Mason said.
“That’s definitely something the girls should want to be involved in and get their name in the starting line-up for.
“It has a bit of everything really. The girls love playing at the stadium and having a good crowd behind us as well – I think it makes us all feel more like a part of the club when that happens.
“It’s not like we haven’t played Rangers before, but we haven’t played them when they’re at the top of the women’s game.
“It’s amazing how much has gone into their squad and their club in comparison to us in Inverness, so I think it’s a bit of a David and Goliath thing going on.
“I know the youth academy are looking forward to seeing some of the international girls up and playing in front of them in Inverness, which will be good for the women’s game as a whole.”
As for the match itself, Mason is realistic that her side will be seen as massive underdogs.
“There are absolutely no expectations or pressure on us,” she added.
“I’m expecting that we’re not going to see much of the ball. Technically every single one of them are brilliant players. They press very quickly, and the speed the move the ball with is something we probably won’t have experienced much.
“I want us to try and make sure we give a good account of ourselves, and make it as difficult as possible for them. It’s going to be a lesson for everyone – myself included, in terms of the different levels that we’re playing against.”
Julia Scott is set to be the only injury absentee for Inverness, having struggled over the last six weeks with a chest infection.
