Hayes and Skelton win SWPL Player of the Month awards for December

Caitlin Hayes and Abby Skelton have collected the December 2023/24 Scottish Women’s Premier League (SWPL) Player of the Month awards, supported by Park’s Motor Group.

In the ScottishPower Women’s Premier League, Caitlin Hayes wins the award for the first time since joining Celtic in 2020. Hayes was previously nominated for February 2023 and follows teammate Amy Gallacher who won the August award this season.

In December, Hayes played a vital role in maintaining Celtic’s title push as she scored twice from defence in their 7-0 win over Spartans and provided the only goal in their 1-1 draw away to Hearts. Her goal to level the match at Oriam was a turn and finish that any striker would have been proud of.

Celtic are three points behind Rangers with both sides having played 16 games and next meet in the league on the 18th February.

In ScottishPower Women’s Premier League 2, Skelton becomes the first player to break the hold of Ellie Kane who had won all previous awards this season. She also becomes the second Gartcairn player to ever win the award after Ami Robertson won the final award of the 2022/23 season.

While Gartcairn have endured a tough start to the season, Skelton has been a standout for her side as she scored twice in December in three games. That included a vital goal in their 2-2 draw away to Kilmarnock where she constantly tested the goalkeeper from range. With her side nine points from potential safety, Gartcairn will be hoping to keep Skelton on form going into 2024.

The nominees for the December 2023 SWPL award were Lauren Davidson (Glasgow City), Carly Girasoli (Heart of Midlothian), and Demi Taylor (Montrose) and for the SWPL 2 award were Abby Callaghan (Queen’s Park) and Beth MacLeod (Boroughmuir Thistle).