Westthorn United Ladies Football Club was an early women's football team in Scotland. The team was founded in 1967 by women working at Gay's biscuit factory in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. It was initially known as the Glasgow Gay Ladies, or Glasgow Gay Eleven. It soon moved training to

Cambuslang Cambuslang ( sco, Cammuslang, from gd, Camas Lang) is a town on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater Glasgow, Scotland. With approximately 30,000 residents, it is the 27th largest town in Scotland by population, although, never having had a ...

, where it trained on the pitch at the Hoover factory, alongside the Cambuslang Hooverettes. The team's next move was to the Westthorn recreation ground, in the

Barrowfield Barrowfield is a neighbourhood of Glasgow, Scotland, close to Celtic Park, home of Celtic F.C., which lies immediately to the east. It is bounded by the A89 road (Gallowgate) to the north and the A74 (London Road) to the south. History Being ...

area of Glasgow, and this led it to adopt the "Westthorn United" name. In 1968, the team were founder members of the first women's league in Glasgow. The following year, it entered the Butlin's Cup, beating Stewarton Thistle to win the Scottish side of the tournament. As a result, it played Fodens Ladies F.C., the English winners, in the first match for many years between women's teams from the two nations. In 1970, the team was one of six founder members of the

Scottish Women's Football Association Scottish Women's Football (SWF), formerly known as the Scottish Women’s Football Association (SWFA) between 1972 and 2001, is the governing body for women's association football in Scotland. It is an affiliated national association of the Scotti ...

, and it competed in the

Scottish Women's Football League The Scottish Women's Football League (SWFL) is a group of women's football divisions in Scotland. The league is owned and managed by Scottish Women's Football (SWF), an affiliated body of the Scottish Football Association (SFA). The league current ...

from its first season. 1972/73 proved its most successful season, as it won the league, the

Scottish Women's Cup The Scottish Women's Cup is the national knockout cup competition for women's football in Scotland. First held in 1970–71, the competition is owned and managed by Scottish Women's Football (SWF), an affiliated body of the Scottish Football Assoc ...

and the first

Scottish Women's Football League Cup The Scottish Women's Football League Cup, previously known as the Scottish Women's League Cup and Scottish Women's Football League First Division Cup, is a Scottish women's football competition founded in 1972. It is open only to teams in the Sc ...

. It also reached the final of the

Women's FA Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reas ...

, losing 2-0 to Southampton Women's F.C. 1973/74 was less successful, with the team reaching the final of the Scottish Women's Cup, but losing to Motherwell AEI. At the end of the 1973/74 season, the team's two top players,

Edna Neillis Edna Neillis (15 April 1953 – 13 July 2015) was a Scottish women's association football player, who represented the Scottish women's football team and played in the French and Italian championships. Neillis was born in Glasgow, and raised i ...

and Rose Reilly, both moved overseas to turn professional. The team continued playing in the top division until at least 1976/77,{{cite web , title=Women's League Competitions , url=http://sfha.org.uk/womensleague.htm , website=Scottish Football Historical Results Archive , access-date=5 September 2022 but dissolved before the end of the decade.

References

Women's football clubs in Scotland Association football clubs established in 1967 1967 establishments in Scotland Football clubs in Glasgow Defunct football clubs in Scotland Association football clubs disestablished in the 1970s 1970s disestablishments in Scotland