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THE coffee waiting for Anna Signeul in Brendan Rodgers’s office has grown as cold as the Swedish winters she must again learn to endure.

It says much for the class of the Celtic manager he was the only club boss in Scotland to phone and congratulate Signeul and her squad for qualifying for the recent

European Championship.

The invite for a blether at Lennoxtown was so genuine Stewart Regan pulled her to one side a few weeks ago and told of a conversation with the Irishman.

Rodgers’s first question to the SFA chief: “Can you ask Anna when she’s coming up for this coffee and chat?”

Timing’s everything – maybe if, in between Champions League qualifiers, Rodgers had given a hand with the packing before she returned to Scandinavia at the weekend, Signeul would have put the kettle on herself.

After 12 years as head of women’s football here, including the national team, the 56-year-old is taking over Finland, allowing her to return to live in the country that inspired her love of sport as a child.

(Image: SNS)

Skiing, tennis and, naturally, football enthused her, as did the call from Rodgers, a rare intervention from a male-dominated sport in which the influence of women is too often overlooked.

Signeul said: “It meant a lot that Brendan called, going to the bother of getting my number from the SFA.

“He was so warm on the phone, said the girls were an inspiration and had done themselves and the country proud. He saw it as a great achievement for all Scottish

football, not just the women.

“He invited me to Lennoxtown for a coffee. I put it to the back of my mind but Stewart reminded me. I don’t know if we’ll get together now, maybe some time.

“I’ll miss Scotland, even the weather. It doesn’t rain as often as people say. I don’t know how I’ll cope with Swedish winters again – snow, November to April, and so cold all the time. Brrrr.”

The last comment is made with a smile, a feature never far from Signeul’s face although she is serious about her responsibilities in creating a pathway for Scottish girls who could previously only dream of a career in the game.

She arrived in March 2005 when there were 1500 registered female players in the country. Now there are 11,000 and Signeul believes the structures have been put in place to increase that number to up to 30,000 within a decade.

The women’s qualification for the Euros in Holland in July, their first at that level, suggests an upward curve in performance our men have struggled to match since they last played at a major tournament in France 98.

The women are rated top 20 in the world, top 12 in Europe and 70 per cent of Signeul's squad earn a living as professionals in contrast to 2010 when only Iffy Dieke was earning full-time from the sport.

Of course, ambition can only be served by decent resources, a point new boss Shelley Kerr must be aware of. For example the Scots only played half the number of friendlies in the run-up to the Euros as the hosts.

Six top Belgian clubs have been handed 250,000 euros each to resource full-time women’s teams. Austria commits almost 20 times the Scottish equivalent in the women’s game at an elite level.

Images of Scotland’s women such as Hayley Lauder have been used on everything from Lidl adverts to Panini stickers but are they adequately compensated for these sponsorship deals? Their recent stance against the SFA suggests not.

For once Signeul is coy but let slip: “When we qualified against Iceland the girls didn’t get to keep their shirts as they had to be used for the Euros as well. Thankfully, things like that have improved.”

However, she is more open about Scottish football in general, including the men’s game she feels is cumbersome in its structure and puts resources in the wrong areas.

She added: “The Scottish game is best served with a true pyramid system – no separate amateur, junior or senior leagues. Make a national pathway from the top down to an eighth or ninth division.

“League One and Two clubs here claim to be professional when they’re training once or twice a week. That’s not professional – that’s a hobby.

“Clubs should not pay men who are only training twice a week. Those guys should play for fun. These clubs should focus resources at youth level and encourage the

establishment of clubs with more community focus.”

Her proudest legacy is the number of young girls playing football in a fun, stimulating and engaging environment that she admits was not always the case.

Signeul said: “Not long after I arrived in Scotland I took my Swedish friends and their

10-year-old daughter to watch a women’s Premier League game.

“My friend’s girl said, ‘Anna, why do the players keep telling the referee to f*** off?’ She didn’t know what it meant. It was embarrassing. I wouldn’t put my child in that environment.

(Image: AFP)

“Thankfully, attitudes have changed. I was at Raith Rovers in November when 300 women and girls were at the awards night. Clubs like Deveronvale show they are also getting the chance in rural areas.”

At club level it took Laura Montgomery and her friend Carol Anne Stewart to establish the most successful team, Glasgow City, from scratch in 1998, a shameful dereliction of duty to the women’s game by the Old Firm especially.

Signeul added: “I’m proud of the national team and also Glasgow City who got to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

“The women’s game has been a missed opportunity for our biggest clubs. So many women follow Celtic and Rangers. Why can’t these clubs fulfil the ambitions of the daughters of their fans as well as the sons?”

Not a bad topic of discussion to have over a cup of Blue Mountain with Rodgers.