Leanne Crichton aiming to deliver league title as Rangers head coach

New Rangers women’s team head coach Leanne Crichton has set her sights on winning the SWPL title and making an impact in Europe.

The former Scotland international has replaced Jo Potter in the dugout for the new season, which kicks off in ten days time.

Rangers won both cup competitions last campaign, but fell just short in the league and eventually finished third behind Hibernian and Glasgow City despite taking it to the final day.

Potter then departed for Crystal Palace and Rangers turned to Crichton to lead the side into the 2025/26 season, and she is determined to deliver success in the SWPL.

She said: “There was some contact between the club and myself a number of weeks back, obviously the approach was there and the conversations after that were really positive.

“To win, is the short-term plan, and ultimately for us, the long-term plan. The league title is the one thing that’s been missing.

“It’s a really successful team that I am taking over, in terms of four trophies from six, but the league title is the one trophy that every Rangers team wants to win.

“With that it would guarantee Champions League football, and for me that would be the ultimate aim to deliver the league title and then get a shot at Europe.

“That is what we will set out to do, I am very realistic regarding how competitive the league is, so the margins will be tight, but it will be up to us as a group to find that 1% extra that will make the difference.”

Crichton, who was working as a pundit with the BBC before being offered the Rangers jobs, says it was a “no-brainer” to take on the role.

She said: “There’s a lot of emotion, I think, associated with everything that I do, and that is the type of person that I am.

“And it’s heart on the sleeve, and I plough everything into being successful, whether that is in broadcasting terms or my journalistic degree and background that I have as well.

“The time and the affiliation that I had at Glasgow City and the people there that I worked with, obviously, there’s emotion, I’ve got my family life to balance as well, which is ultimately paramount.

“So I don’t think any decision is absolutely instantaneously when you’ve got so much to consider. But the reality of this opportunity and the magnitude of the job and certainly being in Scotland at Rangers Football Club was a no-brainer.”

Rangers gets their SWPL season under way with a trip to Montrose on Sunday, August 17.