TYLER Toland believes her loan move to Glasgow City FC is a case of ‘perfect timing’.
The St Johnston woman (19) joined Glasgow City on a season-long loan from Manchester City last week.
Toland has found regular game time elusive since moving to Manchester City from Sion Swifts at the start of last season. After a recent injury, when she suffered torn ankle ligaments, Toland is eager to shine in Glasgow.
“It was perfect timing really with just coming back from an injury,” she says.
“I’m ready to go and start playing games again. As soon as I heard about it, I was really up for it and really excited.
“I’ve really enjoyed it in Glasow so far. It’s a very professional environment. The girls have been very welcoming and the training was a very high tempo.
“The benefits of training with top-class players are huge. They bring a good standard and tempo to training every day. They set the standard and you have to meet that standard every day.”
Scott Booth’s Glasgow City are chasing a 14th successive League title this season and reached the quarter-finals of the Women’s Champions League last term, losing out to VfL Wolfsburg.
Toland says: “When the opportunity did arise, the Champions League was one thing that popped into my head straight away. I’m very excited for that.
“They were in the Champions League quarter-final and have been a very successful team over the years so I’m hoping to help win more trophies and continue being successful.
“It’s a very competitive League and the competition will be really high. The more competitive it is, the more interesting it will be for the fans.
Booth was keen to nab Toland’s services and a call to Man City assistant Alan Mahon set the wheels in motion. Toland joins her fellow Republic of Ireland international Clare Shine in Glasgow.
She says: “Coming into a new side is always daunting. To have someone like Claire makes me feel comfortable. It helps massively to know someone.”
Other Irish internationals Katie McCabe, Keeva Keenan, Denise O’Sullivan and Ruesha Littlejohn have been on Glasgow’s books in recent seasons.
Toland says: “Glasgow has been a really successful team over the years. My goal is to work as hard as I can to help the team continue to be successful and win more trophies.”
In 2017, Toland became the Republic of Ireland’s youngest ever senior international, featuring against Northern Ireland aged just 16 years and 43 days.
Tyler Toland of the Republic of Ireland
The stylish midfielder will hope that regular game time in Scotland will bring her back into the plans of Irish boss Vera Pauw, who has strangely left the Donegal woman completely out of recent squads.
2020 has been a strange year with Covid-19 shutting sport down across the globe, but Toland is ready to rock again – and believes that hard work over the last six months could pay dividends.
She says: “Every club is the same because no-one played during it. We’re all on an even ground. Some players have played internationally but everyone has had the same opportunity over lockdown to do their own thing.
“Overall, every team faced the same difficulties so no-one has an advantage. It’ll be down to who worked hardest over lockdown.”
Her first game for her new club will be the season opener this weekend when Glasgow City host Celtc.
Toland says: “It’ll be a cracker of a game. It’s an ideal chance to get the season going and hopefully we’ll start on a positive note.”
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