In the midst of a fallout between Hamilton’s men’s side and the owner of New Douglas Park, Accies women have been banned from using the clubs badge and name, with the men’s owners claiming to be setting up their own women’s team. Is the Women’s team being caught in a political tug-of-war between parties, or is the response a fair and justified one? We spoke with Women’s team manager and club secretary Robert Watson to gain insight into the club’s stance and what lies ahead for their future.
Based on your experience with the club, how did the first agreement with the men’s side come about to use their name and badge and what has the relationship been like in your time at the club?
“So, I actually joined the club in 2015, but the agreement to start using the naming badge was made between 2012 and 2013, so it was a wee bit before I joined the club. Effectively, the club was known as Hamilton Thistle/Hamilton Women beforehand. We had played in the league for a long time. The club was actually formed in 1995. At the time, although all the training was done in Hamilton, the club had to play games in a different location. There wasn’t a ground to the standards of the league, so we played externally. So the committee thought why don’t we play in Hamilton and call ourselves Hamilton Academical. We can train at the stadium. So effectively, money we are spending on council facilities, we can put into the local club instead.”
“Since then, it’s been a long working partnership. Now to be really clear, the agreement meant that Hamilton women got, use of the Hamilton Academical badge and in perpetuity that was granted by the previous board. But crucially, the club would also remain independent financially. This was for two reasons: one, because we were the experts in women’s football and also because, while they’re a well-supported club, it’s a very small club and they don’t have the funding to dump a large sum of money and juts fully takeover. This is how a lot of clubs like Rangers and Hibernian operated at the time.“
In terms of what’s happened recently, do you feel like you are getting caught up in politics over a stadium move or do you feel there is a genuine intention to set up their own women’s team?
“I can’t really speak for what’s happening at the men’s club. The board of directors changed in summer 2023. At this point, for whatever reason, they’ve chosen to move the team (from New Douglas Park in Hamilton) to Cumbernauld. The Scottish Women’s Premier League (SWPL) wanted assurances on where we were going to play next season. Obviously, we’ve always been at Hamilton Club, even before we took the name Academical – it was really important we remained in Hamilton.”
“We made that decision, with that little bit of autonomy that we’ve always had. Hamilton then served a letter to say we were not allowed to use their name, which obviously was hugely surprising to us. We’ve not had any contact with the current board of directors since at least March of this year.”
“My understanding is Hamilton Academicals’ current board of directors contacted the league. The league said: surely there’s a conversation to be had. Why would you not want to be involved with a team that’s just won a title and has got several youth teams that have won things this season as well? I don’t want to put words in anyone’s mouth. That’s really the facts. I think people maybe need to draw their own conclusions from it.”
“At the end of the day, the most important thing for us is ensuring that we still have a club that plays in Hamilton, within our community, that we look after the 150 players playing under our banner. Over the years, we have had a number of players that have come all the way through our pathway to play senior football, and on occasions, we’ve had international players. As an example: Lee Gibson, who’s the current Scottish National goalkeeper, had a period at Hamilton Academical. So we just have to look after ourselves.”
“The actual agreement has never changed in over ten years. We sat down once with the current board of directors, last summer, I believe it was. They were aware of the way that the club is ran, and there was no issue at that point. So I don’t really know what’s happened in the interim. Like I say, that’s not really our place to comment on, I’m not going to put words in mouths, but that’s what has happened.“
Are you confident that your team will be playing in the SWPL next year?
“Yes, 100%.”
What is the team’s plan for next year? Would you like to keep the name and badge?
“Well obviously, we have spent ten years building up a brand around that name and badge. We’re currently taking legal advice and I can’t really say any more than that. When you actually add up things like our pitch rent, then we’ve probably paid the best part of a £100,000 into Hamilton Academical football club. It’s not like we got things for free, and we were invested in the wider community ethos of the club. Like any partnership, it has its up and downs. When it came to the crunch, we looked after each other. The previous board of directors were people that you could approach and say: we need help with this or: can we help with that? But like I say, there’s not been any of those conversations. It wasn’t a deterioration of a relationship, it just didn’t really move any further forward.“
“We’ve always been self-financed and got our own sponsorships. So in terms of that, nothing will change. The absolute worst-case scenario and I need to stress this is an if, not a definite – if we have to change our name, or decide that would be best, then that would be the only change. We would be called something slightly different. In terms of the everyday running of the club – players, league places, everything would remain the same.“
“If the current Hamilton Academical men’s team wanted to start, as they said in their statement, a new women’s team, they would be looking at starting from tier seven. The registration for that, I believe finished last Sunday. So, they would not be able to enter until season commencing 2026/27 at the earliest, to my understanding.“
It was a big decision to stay in Hamilton, how important is it for you as a club to be within the community?
“As I say, we’ve got probably in the club at any time, 130 to 150 players. A lot of them come from Hamilton or just outside the immediate Hamilton area. We’re the only top flight women’s club in South Lanarkshire. We mean a lot to people; and the fans mean a lot to the people running the club. I speak to Hamilton Academical fans, and they consider us the women’s team. We had public support from the Accies Supporters Association. These people are the lifeblood of Hamilton Academical – all the everyday fans. I always say, I won’t be at the club forever, and it’s about me leaving things in a way that the next people can come in and take forward.“
“Ultimately, the club is about supporters, it’s about community and it’s about first and foremost giving girls an opportunity to play football. Hopefully, some of them, make it all the way up to our lead team. We look after them and we do everything we possibly can. If they move on from Hamilton, then they continue playing football, or they move on to something bigger. If we continue to do that, then we’re doing right by our community because we’re not run for profit, we don’t pay players, we’re part time. It is blood sweat and tears that go into the club to have made it what it is today.“
In terms of the footballing side of things, what are your aims this season and beyond, as a team that has just been promoted to the SWPL?
“You’ve got to understand how difficult it is with the financial climate in Scotland, we don’t have anything like the finances England do. We get no Scottish Government support for women’s football in Scotland. Even just looking at the numbers of some clubs – Rangers and Glasgow City have probably got budgets in the £800k-£1m range. I think our budget is going to be about £35k. So that is how difficult things are going to be. Even the teams in the bottom half will have superior budgets to us.“
“What we can do is find some players with something to prove, who we think have been overlooked, and put together a strong team. We know our aim is to finish eighth; we want to stay up on merit rather than through a playoff (10th place is relegated automatically, with 9th place playing a relegation playoff against the second-place finisher of the SWPL 2). Over the 20 odd games that we play this season it’s going to be incredibly difficult. We weren’t expected to win the SWPL2 last year. Again, we didn’t even have the biggest budget.“
“I think one of our biggest strengths was that we knew only first place would get us up. We put together a team quite early that we stuck by, we didn’t make multiple signings midway through the season. We stuck by the 22 players that we had to get the job done, and they showed that they were the best team in the league by quite a distance. We will have to play slightly differently at times, and there’s excitement when playing the big teams. When it comes down to it, it’s about putting results on the board and finding a way.“
“It’s a really exciting thing for the club, and for the players. For historical context, the club has never finished higher than seventh in the top tier. I actually believe if we finish eighth this year, considering the budgets and the 5 professional teams that we’re going to come up against; I think it may well be the best season that the club will have ever had. That is the enormity of the challenge we are facing.“
What this defiant interview highlights so powerfully is that the women’s team isn’t defined by money or sponsors. It’s shaped by individuals – by people who pour their hearts into it. Hamilton Academical Women will endure. Whether they wear the same badge or carry the same name, the spirit of the club remains. It will continue to serve the Hamilton community, giving young girls the chance to play football. One thing is certain: you can take the branding, but you can’t take the soul of the club.
