There's Something in the Ayr: Meet Clare Docherty, Head of Women's and Girls Football at Ayr United
In 2018, Clare Docherty scored in the most chaotic Scottish Cup tie you've never seen. Still playing, now Head of the Women's and Girl's Academy, her side welcome holders Celtic to Cumnock on Sunday.
On the 27th May 2018 Ayr United travelled to face Blackburn United in the First Round of the Women’s Scottish Cup. What looked to be a fairly unremarkable tie on paper became one of my most talked about football memories, the home side eventually running out 10-9 victors in the 120th minute following scoreline of 6-6 and 8-8 at full time and half time of extra time respectively.
“We were robbed!”, jokes Clare Docherty when I first bring up the game, who was playing for the Ayrshire side that day and now marries her role on the pitch with a significant one away from it as Head of the Women’s and Girls Academy for the Championship club.
“We were still playing a summer season then so it was a lovely day. To be honest, thinking back, we underestimated them. They were a feeder for a couple of sides at the time and I didn’t really know any of their players.”
“I scored, there’s a photo of that, but in general I’ve got a terrible memory for the details of games. I just remember it going back and forward incessantly. It was 6-6 at full time and then level halfway through extra time. There were bodies lying everywhere, but penalties never came as Blackburn scored in the very last minute.”
“I remember sitting in the dressing room afterwards and thinking that was ours for the taking. Looking back at some of the photos from that day the team has changed so much.”
I ask Docherty if she is expecting the same scoreline on Sunday, “You never know there might be a cup upset!". I sense her tongue may have ever so slightly been in her cheek as she gives her reply.
We’re talking as Ayr United prepare to welcome Scottish Cup holders Celtic to Townhead Park for their Third Round tie, and while the offer to move the game to Somerset Park, the home of their male counterparts, for Clare and her teammates the decision to play the game in Cumnock, which the third-tier side have grown to call home, was a no-brainer.
“It’s been a collective choice to keep the game at our home ground”, explains the 2023 Championship Player of the Year having been given the honour last month at the end of year SWF Awards. “Any advantage to us we have to take it. If we play at Somerset it could have felt like an away game for us plus that big grass park might have suited Celtic more.”
“We’ve got a great relationship and a lot of memories at Cumnock so why change the habit of a lifetime. We’re really happy the game is going to be there.”
Docherty has been at United for over six years, and joined following the birth of her second child Chloe, “I had hung up my boots when somebody asked me to come play. I had came from playing in the top flight and being honest I thought the standard was terrible and the professionalism needed some work.”
“After a few sessions they asked me to stay and sign. I was a bit reluctant but the opportunity to come and raise the standards helped make my mind up.”
“Hand on heart, it’s the nicest club I have been at and that’s never changed. The camaraderie and team spirit is unbelievable, the people I work with are not just teammates but really good friends too.”
Drawing current holders Celtic, who saw Head Coach Fran Alonso depart for NWSL side Houston Dash during the winter break, brings an added spotlight to the club that the club’s leading scorer this season is relishing, “We had popped the link for the draw in the group chat so were all watching it together. It’s funny because the top three sides in our league have ended up facing the top three in the SWPL (with Championship leaders Rossvale hosting Glasgow City and SWPL leaders Rangers travelling north to face second placed Inverness Caledonian Thistle).
“We actually really wanted Kilmarnock with the rivalry between the two clubs. I think that would have been a really exciting draw for everybody.”
“With Celtic we’re not afraid of it. We don’t think we’re going to win but we’re not going to let them run over the top of us and there’s a little bit of belief that maybe we can do something.”
As well as having the opportunity to host the holders Docherty could also line up opposite some familiar faces from her footballing past having played for the Glasgow side prior to leaving in 2016 following the birth of her first child.
“They’re full-time professionals, it’s a completely different set up.”, she continues, “When I was there it was still good but the difference now is that they can recruit a much higher calibre of player but you still have the likes of Kelly Clark and Chloe Craig who were both there when I was.”
“I played alongside Natalie Ross too in the national team youth set ups too. We got to travel to other countries during that time and shared so many experiences so it will be nice to see her.”
“It’s difficult to tell our players what to expect other than they will just be a really strong side and we’ve just got to go out there and play our game.”
When the whistle blows at 2pm on Sunday Docherty’s focus will be fixed firmly on the pitch but having been appointed Head of the Women’s and Girl’s Academy in August 2021 she is also a key figure in trying to establish the Ayrshire side as the place to be for young footballers in the region.
“I’ve tried my best to overhaul everything and the support we get from the club now is unbelievable. Within a couple of months of being in role the chairman sat down with me and agreed to pretty much everything.”
Events such as joint press conferences and kit launches for the senior sides have been part of her overhaul while the whole club from men’s first team, to women’s first team to all the academy sides, both boys and girls, now train and play in the same branded kit, “Silly wee things like that are a big deal. It’s not that the club weren’t willing to do it before, it’s just that nobody had asked the question.”
Her plans for growth, supported by key figures within the club, appears to be working and for the first time ever she was forced to implement a waiting list such has been the inundation from parents wanting their children to join the club.
“I was genuinely gutted that I had to start that as I want to let everybody in. If a young player finds their name on that list though I’m still committed to finding a way to help them play the game, that’s so, so important.”
“When I was growing up in Ardrossan there was none of this, I was always travelling to play, but now even the local non-league side Ardrossan Winton Rovers have a girls academy. That benefits everybody and now I can point parents in the direction of other clubs in their local area with the knowledge that if a space becomes available they are a phone call away.”
“It breaks my heart they can’t all be here but you have to keep them playing.”
As well as ensuring young players get minutes on the pitch Docherty wants to ensure they savour the occasion of having some of Scotland’s very best on their doorstep.
“We’ve got our whole academy coming on Sunday and every age group is going to have a role whether it be as mascots, ball girls or something else. For them to have a great experience on Sunday, that is what will make me really happy.”
“We’ve already sold over 300 tickets and that’s without including friends, family and people from the wider club. It’s gonig to be busy, they’ll all be shouting for Ayr.”
Two of the mascots on Sunday will be Docherty’s children Ellie (who also plays within the academy and shares the same number ten jersey as her mum) and Chloe.
“There’s only a year between them. My youngest Chloe, I might need to put a strap on her on Sunday, she has big main character energy”, says Docherty as she lets out an affectionate laugh with a tone that only a mother can, “She’ll love it but she’ll think everyone is there to see her while Ellie is maybe a wee bit more sensible and a bit quieter.”
“The two of them will be holding my hand as the teams come out. I don’t know if they’ll quite understand it until they’re older but it’s a big deal for the three of us. After having Chloe I was all but retired, being able to experience this with them both on Sunday is amazing.”
Win lose or draw Docherty continues to have big ambitions for the remainder of the season and beyond.
“Our U14s are going to be entering the new National Performance League structure for the first time, and our U10s are so good, which I know sounds really daft because of how young they are, but that pushes me to continue building that pathway.”
“We’ve potentially got a Championship Cup Final to look forward to and we’re sitting third just now in the league. It’s really tight at the top but we don’t know how the season is going to go. You don’t playing to sit at the bottom of the table and so you’re obviously competing to try and be towards the top, whether that means promotion we’ll find out come the end of the season.”
“Sometimes I feel like their mother but I’m so proud of the team and whatever the result Sunday is going to be special. If we get beat we’re not going to go home crying and if somehow we win it’ll be some party.”
Ayr United host Celtic in the Women’s Scottish Cup Third Round this Sunday with a 2pm kick off at Townhead Park, Cumnock.
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