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Suzy Shepherd

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Scottish women's football player and coach
Suzy Shepherd
Personal information
Birth name Suzanne Robertson
Date of birth (1975-07-03) 3 July 1975 (age 49)
Place of birth Scotland
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–2007 Hibernian
2000 → New Jersey Wildcats (loan)
2001 → New Jersey Wildcats (loan)
2005 → ÍBV (loan)
2007–2009 Celtic
2009–2011 Hibernian
2009–2011 Hutchison Vale 15 (1)
2013–2016 Spartans
International career
2001–2005 Scotland 11 (0)
Managerial career
2016–2017 Spartans
2018–2023 Boroughmuir Thistle
2024– Dundee United
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Suzanne Shepherd (née Robertson; born 3 July 1975) is a Scottish football manager and former player whose position was defender. She has been the head coach of Dundee United Women since March 2024.

Playing career

Raised in Edinburgh, Robertson did not play organised football until the age of 19. She joined Hibernian around the time the team was formed in 1997, and was a major part of their success in the first decade of the 21st century, winning three Scottish Women's Premier League championships, three Scottish Women's Cups and one SWPL Cup. She also spent time on loan in the United States with New Jersey Wildcats (alongside compatriot Debbie McWhinnie) and in Iceland with ÍBV (with fellow Scot Suzanne Malone).

In 2007, Robertson was recruited to be part of the new women's football setup at Celtic – the team reached the Scottish Cup final in their first season but were defeated by Hibs, and were unable to dethrone the increasingly dominant Glasgow City in the league. Robertson returned to Hibs in 2009 and lifted a further Scottish Cup and SWPL Cup before moving on to smaller Edinburgh teams Hutchison Vale and finally Spartans, where she began to transition into a coaching role but also appeared in one more Scottish Cup final at the age of 39 – Spartans were beaten 5–0 by Glasgow City.

During her first spell with Hibs, Robertson was selected 11 times by Scotland between 2001 and 2005.

Coaching career

As her playing days drew to a close, Shepherd was appointed as the Spartans manager to succeed Debbi McCulloch in late 2015, taking up the role for the 2016 season in which the club finished 6th. They improved to 5th in 2017, but she stepped down at the end of the year. At that time she was also working as the assistant to Pauline Hamill, coach of the Scotland under-19 team.

Intending to take a break from the game, she was soon invited to take a leading role at Boroughmuir Thistle, an Edinburgh club with an extensive youth team network for girls but no financial backing from a men's club. She remained there for over five years, in which Boroughmuir consolidated their position in the third tier SWFL First Division, then were promoted to the Scottish Women's Premier League 2 in 2020 after the withdrawal of Hutchison Vale from the competition. The club survived at that level for three seasons, but Shepherd resigned as head coach at the end of 2022–23 campaign. In her vocation as a personal trainer, she had also overseen the development of Boroughmuir's most promising young player, Emma Watson, who soon moved on to a professional contract at Rangers and became a full international.

In March 2024, Shepherd was appointed head coach at Dundee United, after Graeme Hart was sacked with the side struggling near the foot of the table in their first-ever season in SWPL1. Two months later, the team retained their place in the top division by defeating Kilmarnock in the relegation/promotion play-off.

Honours

Hibernian

Celtic

Spartans

  • Scottish Women's Cup: Runner-up 2014

Individual

References

  1. ^ Leading the Line Meets: Boroughmuir Thistle Head Coach Suzy Shepherd, Chris Marshall, Leading the Line, 4 September 2020
  2. ^ Six Hibs legends inducted into Hall of Fame, Hibernian FC, 17 October 2024
  3. McWhinnie nets game winner, The Trentonian, June 18, 2001
  4. Tvær skoskar stúlkur til ÍBV , Morgunblaðið, 29 May 2005 (in Icelandic)
  5. ^ Hibernian Ladies 3 - 1 Celtic Ladies: Women's team show male counterparts how it's done, The Scotsman, 19 May 2008
  6. S. Robertson, Soccerway
  7. ^ Scottish Cup Final: Spartans fall at Final hurdle against City, Spartans FC Women, 16 November 2014
  8. Scotland Women’s National Team from 1998: a Complete Record, Andy Mitchell, Scottish Sport History, October 2022
  9. appoint Suzy Shepherd as new SWPL Manager, North Edinburgh News, 24 September 2015
  10. Football: New manager Suzy Shepherd aiming to steer Spartans to League Cup semi-finals, Alan Campbell, The National, 26 March 2016
  11. Suzy Departs Spartans, Spartans FC Women, 5 November 2017
  12. SWPL: Boroughmuir Thistle take Hutchison Vale’s place, SheKicks.net, 8 January 2020
  13. Former Boroughmuir manager Suzy Shepherd felt the “time was right” to leave the club, Jack Dawson, Edinburgh Evening News, 14 April 2023
  14. Boroughmuir manager Suzy Shepherd ‘isn’t surprised’ by Emma Watson’s success, Jack Dawson, Edinburgh Evening News, 14 April 2023
  15. Suzy Shepherd Takes DUFCW Reins, Dundee United FC, 1 March 2024
  16. Dundee United Women appoint Suzy Shepherd as head coach, BBC Sport, 1 March 2024
  17. Dundee United come from behind to win SWPL Play-Off, She Kicks, 24 May 2024
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