Howat and Kane make history with SWPL Player of the Month wins

Kirsty Howat and Ellie Kane have collected the October 2023/24 Scottish Women’s Premier League (SWPL) Player of the Month awards, supported by Park’s Motor Group.

Both players won the September awards and have now made SWPL history. Kirsty Howat becomes the first SWPL player to win the award back-to-back while Ellie Kane wins the SWPL 2 award for a record third time in a row having scooped every award so far this season.

In a month where Rangers won all four of their matches, Howat continued her fine form as she had at least one goal contribution in every game. She scored six goals, including four at Ibrox against Hibernian, and provided two assists.

October saw Rangers reach the Quarter-Final of the Sky Sports after a tricky away tie against Heart of Midlothian and climb back to the top of the ScottishPower Women’s Premier League. This was predominantly down to their 2-1 win over rivals Celtic where Howat provided the assist for the opening goal.

Speaking from the Scottish Football Museum where both players received their awards, Rangers forward Howat said: “I am honoured to win the October award and it’s special to become the first ever SWPL player to win these awards back-to-back. The team have started the season well and I’m delighted that has been recognised by those involved in the game.”

In the ScottishPower Women’s Premier League 2, Kane continues to set the league alight and has scored at least one goal in every SWPL 2 match this season. October saw her scored six goals as well as one assist.

It was a month that saw Queen’s Park return to top of the table with three wins from three league matches with the only blemish being their narrow 4-3 away loss to Boroughmuir Thistle in the Sky Sports Cup.

Queen’s Park forward, Kane, said: “I am extremely grateful and surprised to have won this award for a third time. The league is very competitive with so many great players, so it’s a real honour to win this award one time let alone three times in a row. I would like to sincerely thank those who voted for me, and to everyone at Queen’s Park for helping me achieve this.”

The nominees for the October 2023 SWPL award were Louise Brown (Montrose), Chloe Craig (Celtic), and Linzi Taylor (Partick Thistle) and for the SWPL 2 award were Abby Callaghan (Queen’s Park) and Morgan Steedman (St Johnstone).