With the fixtures for our UEFA Champions League qualifiers and Scottish Women's Premier League campaign now confirmed, head coach Leanne Ross has looked ahead to the upcoming 2025/26 season.
Earlier this week, we found out we would face Austria Wien in the second round of European qualifying on Wednesday 27th August - and a win in that semi-final would set up a clash in the final against Belarusian side FC Minsk that weekend.
But, before we get underway in the Champions League, we will begin our SWPL season at home to Motherwell, hosting the Women of Steel at Petershill Park on the opening day of the campaign on Sunday 17th August.
And with our route to the beginning of the new term now set in stone, Ross - who will lead City for her fourth season - says having that information laid out helps refine certain aspects going into pre-season.
“It does allow us to start putting the small details into place because now we know the schedule and who we’re going to be facing and when," she said.
“We’ll start to look at that in greater detail and make sure the plans are in place before the players arrive back to pre-season.
“It gives you a wee bit of a clearer picture of what’s in front of you and the obstacles that you need to overcome. It makes it more real, just having that challenge laid out in front of you.”
City will return to the Champions League qualifiers after a one-season absence. In our semi-final opponents Austria Wien, we will face a side we have never played against before.
But, despite the prospect of facing the somewhat unknown, Ross is raring to get back playing on the European stage once again.
“It is probably a favourable draw in terms of all the teams who were involved, but there are no easy games in the Champions League, and we absolutely know that," our head coach explained.
“The teams we will be up against are in a similar position to ourselves having finished as runners-up within their league, so we know it is going to be difficult.
“Austria Wien are somewhat an unknown entity to us. We’re working hard to make sure we can get footage of them, so we can start the work and the preparation to make sure the team are ready to face that challenge.”
An advantage, Ross believes, going into our Champions League fixtures will be the two competitive games we will have under our belt with the league season kicking off 10 days before our clash with Austria Wien.
Our SWPL campaign begins at home against Motherwell at the Peasy, before an away trip to face former City head coach and assistant Scott Booth's Aberdeen at Balmoral Stadium.
"It’s always nice to come into the start of a season knowing you’ve had a good pre-season and the team is prepared, but there is nothing like competitive games," she added.
“To have that in place with the league before we go into the Champions League qualifying will be a big benefit to us. It’s good that it has worked out that way.”
But regardless of who we are facing in whatever competition, Ross knows her side must start the season well and set the tone for what will hopefully be a successful campaign.
One objective is to continue building on what we achieved at the Peasy last season, with attendances having grown 30% compared to previous years.
“It’s important that we go and set the tone wherever we go," she said. "We want to be challenging for trophies, so we need to make sure that we’re performing on the pitch.
“I think we did that in most of our games last season. I would hope that our home attendances increased because of the style of the football that we play... that it was attractive to the supporters that were coming along.
“We really felt and could see our fan base growing as last season went on. If we can build on that again this season, then that would be excellent.
“We want to make Petershill a really difficult place to come for teams and the supporters are a big part of that with the atmosphere that they bring and how much they can drive the team on.”
The full fixture and venue information for our Champions League qualifier against Austria Wien and details on our pricing and how to purchase tickets for our 2025/26 domestic campaign will be communicated in due course.