Scotland head coach Anna Signeul has challenged the country’s top clubs to prove their commitment to female supporters by giving women’s football a major push.

Signeul leads Scotland Women into the European Championship this week, with a mouthwatering opening game against England in Utrecht tomorrow followed by a clash with Portugal in Rotterdam on Sunday.

Before she leaves to become head coach of Finland at the end of Scotland’s campaign, Signeul wants to have raised the profile of the women’s game back home one more time.

And while she sees Scotland’s biggest clubs gradually showing more interest in women’s teams, Signeul makes a passionate case for them to accelerate such progress. She said: “I think it’s changing. I just hope it would change a little bit faster.

“We know the clubs up here don’t have the resources as the clubs that play in the English Premier League. 

“However I’ve seen a change at Celtic with how much they invest in the girls’ and women’s game.

“I think that at a club you would like to promote men’s and women’s football, football for both boys and girls, have academies to fulfil all your fans’ needs and not just your half of the population.”

Glasgow City and Hibernian are the current main forces in the Scottish women’s game, and Signeul would love to see more clubs with successful men’s teams branch out, similar to the model seen in England’s Women’s Super League.

She said: “Girls dream about being a professional footballer, they dream about being a Kim Little, or a Gemma Fay or a Jane Ross. 

“I would hope this is creating interest among and everyone in football.”

Signeul wants Scots to be drawn in by the achievements of the first Scotland Women side to reach a major finals.

“It’s not just that it’s good for the wellbeing of girls and women to do football, they’re also fantastic athletes,” Signeul said. “If we can make Scotland proud of us that will create a lot of interest.”