From Fife to France.
A football journey that started in a back garden in Dunfermline will take Caroline Weir into the front rooms of homes across the World Cup-watching planet.
Weir has been the Dunfermline Athletic fan hoping somebody in black and white would find the net with a 20-yard free-kick at Hampden. On Tuesday night, with the best part of 20,000 people in the stands of the national stadium, she was the player doing just that in the colours of her country.
“Scoring at Hampden is a dream come true for any Scot growing up, boy or girl,” said Weir.
“I came to a few Scotland games, a couple of Dunfermline cup finals too.
“It’s a great stadium. It’s literally what you dream of. Even though it was a friendly, it was a special occasion.”
Weir won’t lack for family support in France. There will “10 or 11 of them” heading out over the course of the group stage.
“My whole family were at Hampden and it’s been an exciting journey for them,” she said. “Nerve-wracking, as well.
“They are coming out to support me.
“Like a lot of the team, I wouldn’t be here without the support of my family and close friends.
“We’ve all had long journeys to this point. But it’s been enjoyable – and we’ve now reached a really huge watershed moment for Scottish women’s football.”
She added: “I started at a young age. My dad was into football and I used to play in the back garden with my older sister and little brother.
“Then I joined a boys’ team because there were no girls’ teams at the time, went to Hibs – and it all kicked on from there.
“My sister doesn’t play anymore but is a big fan.”
Weir is the creative heartbeat of Shelley Kerr’s Scotland side – a classy midfielder happy to receive the ball with opponents at her back, never flustered and rarely wasteful with passes off a sweet left foot.
And her set-pieces are pretty good too, as the goal against Jamaica showed.
“Nobody was getting me off that free-kick,” she said. “No way.”
Weir has gone from being Liverpool’s player of the season to winning two trophies with Manchester City. It’s a sign of the quality coach Kerr has at her disposal that there are others like Lisa Evans, Kim Little and Erin Cuthbert who are also stars in the English Super league.
“The squad is in a really good place, even compared to two years ago at the European Championships,” said Weir, whose club team shared a victory parade in Manchester with Pep Guardiola’s men’s side a few weeks ago.
“We’ve got professional players competing all across Europe.
“A lot of this squad are coming off the back of good seasons at club football. That gives us confidence going to France.
“We’ve got experience, we’ve got youth – and this squad can do something really special, I think. Hopefully we see that in France.
“What do I mean by special? We know we’ve got a tough group and we’re realistic.
“But we’re also confident. And we think we can get to the knock-out stages. We won’t look past that.
“There is definitely a real belief now. The World Cup was our goal. The campaign was difficult. We had tough moments – going behind in games – but came through them.
“That shows you the depth and strength of the squad, what we’re all about.
“We’ve got a great team spirit. We work so hard for each other. Hopefully people see that and relate to it.”
There may be other nations ranked higher than them but none of the other countries will be heading to France feeling better about themselves. The never-to-be-forgotten Hampden send-off saw to that.
“It was an amazing occasion,” said Weir. “To get the kind of support we did, in those numbers, we just can’t thank the fans enough.
“It was the perfect send-off for France.
“I don’t think, at the start of the qualifying campaign, we could have imagined it ending quite like this.
“But that shows you how far the game has come in Scotland.
“It’s been a long time coming for some of us who have been in the squad for years.
“Eventually, we’re getting the recognition that we deserve. We’ve worked hard for it.
“Hopefully the support will continue out in France.
“It’s been a long journey but we now have a really talented squad, we’re doing something special – and we really want the country to get behind us.
“It was also good to put on a performance, show the fans what we’re about – and hopefully they can push us over the line in France.”
First up are England in Nice on June 9 – a chance for revenge after a heavy defeat in the European finals of 2017.
“I played in every game at the Euros two years ago,” said Weir, who scored the winner against Spain in Scotland’s last match. “Hopefully I’ve pushed on.
“England are a top team. Both sides know each other really well so it’s going to be a tough contest, very competitive.
“But, if we stick to what we plan to do, we think we can get a result.”
