Former Manchester United forward Lizzie Arnot is ready to play her part in an exciting start to the Scottish Women’s Premier League (SWPL) season with new club Rangers.
The 24-year-old attacker joined The Blue Belles in July after her contract with Barclays FA Women’s Super League club Manchester United expired.
Arnot netted a brace for her new club in a 3-1 pre-season friendly victory at Spartans on Sunday. The Scottish international has admitted that she is enjoying life at Rangers and is excited for the start to the new season, especially with big games against Hearts, Hibernian and Celtic on the horizon.
“I’m really enjoying it, it’s a great environment to be in” said Arnot when speaking to FA Women’s Super League Full-Time about her early days in the famous blue shirt. “It’s nice to be back on the pitch kicking a ball again after a long period of lockdown and I feel everyone came back in a good place physically so we were able to push on with our pre-season preparations.
“It’s an exciting start to the season (playing Hearts, Hibernian and Celtic) and that’s what everyone wants after the wait we have had.
“As a squad, we always want to win and I feel with the players we have, we definitely should be competing for trophies.”
Winning silverware is something which isn’t unfamiliar to Arnot. She was a member of a Manchester United side who won the FA Women’s Championship title back in 2018/2019 and in-turn, promotion to the Barclays FA Women’s Super League.
Looking back fondly on her achievements during her time with United, Arnot said “Winning the league and getting promotion was amazing.
“Another highlight for me personally was scoring the first goal against Liverpool. I never imagined that would happen to me and to be at a club like Manchester United was a dream come true so to be part of history is very special.”
The forward found the back of the net for United on nine occasions in 34 outings for The Red Devils. Seven of those goals came in Arnot’s first season at The Leigh Sports Village and the player is keen to return to the goal trail this season with Rangers.
She added “As a forward player, I always want to contribute to scoring and assisting goals for the team so I’m hoping I can do that this season.
“I’ll take each game as it comes and look to improve each week.”
The development of the game north of the border is a way behind the Barclays FA Women’s Super League with the latter having seen a significant increase in quality even in the short time since Arnot left United. The player is hopeful for the future of game in Scotland though and believes that the future is very bright.
“I definitely feel the SWPL has developed in the two years that I’ve been down south” the forward said. “It’s definitely more competitive which is great.
“Having more teams in a professional environment will increase the standard of the league and hopefully more teams can follow.
“It would be amazing if one day the Scottish league could be like England where every team is professional.”
Arnot and Rangers begin the 2020/2021 Scottish Women’s Premier League (SWPL) season with a home fixture against Hearts on Sunday.
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