Benefactor gives £250,000 to Scottish women's football

Benefactor James Anderson has donated £250,000 to help women’s football during the coronavirus crisis.

The funding will be given to the Scottish Football Partnership (SFP) Trust, who will distribute it to clubs in both divisions of the Scottish Women’s Premier League.

It will also be used to sustain non-playing staff and key club infrastructure at Scottish Women’s Football (SWF), as well as filtering down to other SWF member clubs – including those at grassroots.

James Clydesdale, chair of the SFP Trust, said: “We are delighted James Anderson has also chosen to help Scottish Women’s Football.

“The women’s game has been making great progress in the last five years and we don’t want to see this momentum lost due to the Covid-19 crisis.”

The donation, which could increase to £312,500 following the processing of Gift Aid, follows a donation of more than £3m by Mr Anderson to the men’s game last week.

Men’s clubs can now receive a £50,000 grant from a Covid-19 crisis fund if they are able to provide evidence of community benefit.

The Edinburgh-based philanthropist, who has provided Hearts with financial backing over the last six years, also committed to future investment in the Scottish game.

The investment in the women’s game has been praised by the chair of Scottish Women’s Football, who said it would send “an incredibly powerful message”.

Vivienne MacLaren, chair of Scottish Women’s Football, said: “This support will help provide an incredibly powerful message to all girls and women in Scotland that their sport matters and has not been forgotten in the midst of this pandemic.

“We are very grateful to James Anderson for recognising this. We are delighted that we are able to deliver this funding via the SFP Trust and thank them for their support.”