Football
Anna Harrington 4y

Scottish history-maker primed for W-League

Scotland international Claire Emslie says the challenge of testing herself in a new competition led to her moving to W-League club Melbourne City.

Emslie emulated Matildas midfielder Emily van Egmond to secure a loan move to City from American NWSL club Orlando Pride.

"It was the perfect opportunity. The only time I could come is if I played in the NWSL - the five-month break fits perfectly timing-wise," Emslie said.

"To keep playing and just experience a different league, experience a different culture, country is something I'm excited about."

Emslie's Scotland teammates Jen Beattie and Kim Little played in City's undefeated debut season in 2015/16 and encouraged her move to Australia.

The winger made history this year when she scored Scotland's first Women's World Cup goal in her team's 2-1 loss to England.

"I think being Scottish, it's not often we ever qualify for anything,' she said.

"So fortunately the women's team have been doing pretty good - we qualified for the Euros last tournament and now the World Cup.

"So it was an incredible experience to go there and play on the world stage with the world's best players."

City kick off their season against the Jets in Newcastle on Sunday and Emslie said she had high expectations.

"Obviously it's a short season so it's going to be really competitive," she said.

"You look at the signings that have been made across the league - there's quite a lot of players coming from the American league who are big players, so I think it will be competitive and exciting."

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