THE new year has seen the Celtic Women’s team move to a professional status, and the focus is on delivering success to the club in 2020.

Fran Alonso has been appointed Head Coach, while a number of the current squad have signed professional contracts.

There have also been some new faces arriving at Paradise, with two top American players joining the Hoops. And during the team’s recent warm-weather training camp in Gran Canaria, this week’s Celtic View caught up with the two new Celts.

Sarah Teegarden has played her football professionally in the United States, in Sweden with Kopparbergs Goteborg FC and most recently in France with Lille

And the 24-year-old midfielder believes new manager Fran Alonso will bring a new level of professionalism to the club, explaining that she can’t wait to see where the new season takes the Celtic team...

Welcome to Celtic, Sarah. How does it feel to get the deal over the line?
The overriding feeling is definitely excitement for me, just being able to play, playing with this group of girls and to play for this club. It’s also really exciting to be part of the club going professional on the women’s side, so it’s really big and exciting for all of us.

You’re joining the club at such an exciting time, with lots of other new faces coming in. Is it nice to share the experience with other people when you come in to a new club?
It’s all perfect timing, especially as we’re making changes to the club. It benefits me because we’re becoming more professional, not just with contracts, but our training, our set-up, attitudes and standards, so it’s really good timing for us all to come in and make that big push to get results.

When you moved to Scotland, what was it that attracted you to Celtic?
Being American, Celtic was the only big club I knew really, so knowing how big a name and club they are was what really initially attracted me. I had also heard through the grapevine that they were going to go professional, so I saw an opportunity and it happened to work out, so it’s great.

You’ve played in the United States and in Europe, but the Scottish women’s game is a completely different ball game in contrast. Does that just excite you as well?
At the end of the day, football is football, but I think it’s definitely exciting because there are so many players here I’ve never played against and the style is so different, but Fran Alonso is bringing in a style that I really appreciate that focuses on playing, so that is exciting as well.

For the full interview with Sarah Teegarden, see this week’s Celtic View, out now.

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Celtic View interview: Paradise found for Sarah Teegarden