The recent AFC Women match against Partick Thistle at Petershill saw Dons midfielder Eilidh Shore reach her landmark 100th appearance for the team. Shore played in the very first Aberdeen FC Women’s match and she becomes only the second player to reach one-hundred games after Loren Campbell did likewise against Celtic in February.

Eilidh recently took a look back over her century of games, starting with AFC Women’s first ever match against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2019. “I remember the first game well. We recently watched some stuff back to see how far we have progressed both individually and as a team. One hundred games is obviously a special number to reach and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it so far.”

Shore’s 100 games have featured back-to-back league titles and promotions which are amongst many highlights over the first three-and-a-half seasons. “It’s a bit like we started at the bottom and worked our way up to the top. There have been a lot of highs and obviously the league wins are included in that, there have been low points as well which is always going to happen. We’ve come a long way as a group since that first season and it’s always good to look back on what we have achieved as a team.”

The 21-year-old hasn’t missed many matches since that first match against Inverness and she has proved to be one of the team’s most reliable and consistent performers. “I obviously try to keep myself fit and I think I’ve been lucky enough with injuries too. I want to make myself available for every game and will do all I can to play every game possible for the team. To reach one-hundred games at my age is really pleasing.”

To hit 100 appearances is impressive for any player but the fact Shore has only just turned 21 is perhaps a reminder of how young she was in that first game. “I don’t think there will be many players at my age in the league that have played one-hundred games. I think it’s really beneficial for development that young players get lots of games early in their career. We have a lot of young players in our team and although I’m still young I’m obviously looked on as one of the more experienced in our team. Aberdeen strives to bring through young players and I got my chance at a young age so it’s good to see the younger ones in that same position now.”

A century of games in seems to be a good time to look back at how the team have developed but also for individuals to do the same. “I think the biggest change was when we arrived in the top flight. In the lower divisions we had more of the ball as a team and personally I didn’t need to concentrate as much from a defensive point of view. I think my role has changed slightly to become a bit more defensive minded but I’ve definitely progressed over the years and it can only help playing against the top players in the country.”

There have been a lot of personnel changes between the end of last season and now with various experienced players leaving whilst a goods group of young players have been introduced. Despite results not going as well as the team would have hoped, Eilidh believes the experience of this season will stand the players in good stead ahead of the next campaign.

“It’s obviously not been the best season for us and hopefully after the split we can turn that around and finish the season on a high. It has been a bit of a transitional season with players moving on and the young players that have come in have done really well. I think we’ll take a lot of lessons from this season and last into the next season as we move forward as a team. It wasn’t too many seasons ago that I was a young player stepping up so I know how the younger players feel. I think everyone in the squad plays a part in helping them settle and I certainly try to help them in any way I can.”

Looking forward, Shore says that she doesn’t set herself particular targets although that doesn’t mean she isn’t looking to improve. “I don’t set targets in terms of goals and things. I just want to get to a consistently good level of performance in as many games as I can. As a team, we want to finish the season strongly and then build on that for next season”.

Eilidh Shore 100 appearances

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