CELTIC Football Club is delighted to announce that with effect from today January 7, 2020, its women’s first team will be moving to professional status for the first time.

Considerable work has been undertaken by Celtic to reach this stage and significant investment is being committed to this new professional model.

A number of existing players have already been moved on to professional contracts and the Celtic squad for 2020 will be bolstered by some further signings, modern apprentices and continuing amateur players, which will all be announced over the coming weeks.

The club is currently in the final stages of the process of appointing a new Head Coach to lead the first team forward into this exciting new era and an announcement on this position will also be made as soon as possible.

A full-time assistant coach will also be appointed in consultation with the new Head Coach, and the duo will be supported by a backroom team including dedicated sports science and medical personnel.

The wider club staff have also committed to supporting the women’s team, with every effort made to ensure they have the highest quality of support for the season ahead.

A number of new sponsors, including Indigo Unified Communications, Eleven Sports Media, Utilita and BeCordial Hotel Group have already come on board to support Celtic's vision for the future, with further partnerships being finalised to ensure the off-field and academic parts of the programme match the on-field standards.

With the season due to commence with a League Cup match on February 9, the first team will be heading to Spain in mid-January for a fantastic warm-weather training camp.

The team will be looking to hit the ground running and build on the performances from season 2019 which saw a marked improved in terms of league performance.

The first team finished the season in third place level on points with Hibernian and 11 points behind the perennial league winners, Glasgow City - who Celtic will face on the opening day of the League season, Sunday, February 23, at K-Park in East Kilbride

Globally the women’s game is evolving all the time and interest is at an all-time high. Along with the other professional teams in the country, Celtic has an opportunity to be at the forefront of improving the women’s game in Scotland, developing greater opportunities for female players and creating a clear career path.

Always striving to be the best at anything it does, the club relishes this opportunity and looks forward to its wider fan base providing its world-renowned support to all levels of the women’s set-up.

Gordon Kaye, Celtic’s Head of Business Development said: "We are delighted to be leading the way in this area in Scotland and we are sure our move to professional status is one which will be hugely beneficial for the club and our players.

“Our new professional arrangement aims to provide the same opportunities for women wishing to play the game at all levels as we currently do for men - as a club famously open to all, this is hugely important to us.

"Building on recent progress, our objective will always be to aim higher and achieve more success and we believe our new professional status will allow us to do this.

“While we realise reaching the top spot in Scotland may not happen overnight, we always want to be the best in all we do and this is absolutely something we aspire to.

"It is a very exciting time for women's football and we are delighted to be driving forward with these exciting new plans."

Celtic Women turn professional for 2020