THERE are thousands, if not millions of Scots who would give their right arm to have the title of Scotland’s best footballer bestowed upon them; Kim Little has as good a claim to it as anyone though. The 24-year-old has racked up a truly incredible list of achievements so far in her career and this week, she could add yet another award to her growing list of accolades.

Little has been nominated for the inaugural BBC Women’s World Footballer of the Year, with the shortlist comprising Little, Spain’s Veronica Boquete, Germany’s Nadine Kessler, Brazilian forward Marta and Liverpool and Nigerian youngster Asisat Oshoala. The winner will be announced today.

In fact, Little’s nomination comes as no great surprise. The diminutive midfielder — she stands just 5ft 4in tall — has won almost every prize in football. With her first senior club, Hibernian, Little was part of the team that won the SWPL Championship, the Scottish Cup and the Premier League Cup.

Her subsequent move to Arsenal proved to be even more fruitful. During her spell in England, Little collected five league titles, two WSL Continental Cups, three FA Cups and one Premier League Cup. She has also won the FA and PFA Player of the Year awards during her time in London.

But after six years at Arsenal, Little decided that she needed a change of scene, so, at the beginning of 2014, she crossed the Atlantic and signed for the National Women’s Soccer League club Seattle Reign.

“It’s going really well so far,” Little says, which is something of an understatement when you consider that she won the league’s Most Valuable Player last season.

“I really enjoyed last year. I felt like I wanted to change leagues to make myself into a better player and I’m so glad that last year went so well. I moved to Seattle just to get out of my comfort zone and to try and develop and I’ve been able to play with some of the best players in the world which has definitely helped my game.”

The esteem in which the American public holds women’s football is almost unrecognisable compared to that of the UK. Seattle Reign attract around 3000 fans to matches at the start of the season with attendances growing as the season progresses. Other women’s football teams can garner 10,000 fans for the big matches, numbers that are, at the moment anyway, unimaginable in Britain.

“Women’s football over there is held in really high regard because of the success of their women’s national team,” explains Little. “The USA have been Olympic champions on the last two occasions so their women football players are viewed almost as highly as some of the male players. There’s a bit more of a fan base but really, I think that over in America, they just love every sport. It definitely makes it fun to play in front of such big crowds.”

Little’s progression through the footballing ranks has been as smooth as one could possibly wish for. She played in both girls and boys teams when she was young and has never experienced any negativity despite being involved in such a male-dominated sport.

However, Little admits that despite showing considerable promise when she was young, becoming a professional player never really occurred to her. “I don’t think at that age I ever thought that I was going to do it professionally — I’m not sure I even realised that it was an option,” she says. “But I do know that from a very young age I was always very driven and determined to get better. I can remember when I was a young kid going out and practicing things to make me better and so it just progressed gradually and eventually, it came to a point when I could turn professional.”

Despite Little’s positive experience, she concedes that considerable inequality remains between women’s and men’s football. That situation is improving however, due, she believes, to the London Olympic Games, in which Team GB’s women’s matches were as well-attended as the men’s.

“It can take a huge event like the Olympics for the public to see us play to increase the awareness,” says Little, who was part of that Team GB side at London 2012 and considers it her career highlight. “A lot of people compare women’s football to men’s football and that’s completely the wrong thing to do.

If you compare any women’s and men’s sports, men are physically stronger and faster so I think it’s harsh to compare the two; you need to see it as its own sport. I think that a lot more people do that now, they see that women’s football is a great spectator sport and as a real joy to watch.”

It remains to be seen whether Little will add the BBC Women’s World Footballer of the Year to her titles but one thing is for sure: the Scot is in high demand. Her contract with Seattle Reign runs out at the end of this year and she admits she has no idea where she will end up. “I’ve got a lot to think about and I’m really not sure what I’ll do next,” she says.