Brian Garrick knew Erin Cuthbert was destined for the very top of women’s football the day a Celtic BOYS Club scout cast an envious eye over her.
Irvine ace Erin, who clinched a dream move to Chelsea Ladies from Glasgow City last week, was just a raw kid at the time but already standing out as the only female player in Brian’s hugely successful Crosshouse Boys Club team.
She spent three-and-a-half trophy-laden seasons there before her blossoming talent earned her a move to Rangers Ladies in 2012.
But it was the other half of the Old Firm who were first to sit up and take notice of the pint-sized Irvine schoolgirl.
Brian recalled: “We were playing a tournament at Loch Lomond and Erin was outstanding, running the show in the middle of the park as usual.
“A Celtic scout approached me and told me she was that good that she would be in their boys’ team at the same age group.
“She was a phenomenon, even back then. We had one of of our best age group teams but she stood out.”
Former Greenwood Academy pupil Erin joined Crosshouse Under 11s from Girdle Toll Boys Club, which her dad Stevie ran, at a time when attitudes to girls’ football were not as enlightened as they are nowadays.
Erin scoring a cracker for Scotland
“You’d hear people say girls shouldn’t be playing football with boys,” said Brian, “but when I heard that Erin wanted to come to Crosshouse I couldn’t get her to training quick enough.
“She wasn’t the biggest but she gave as good as she got and the boys treated her as one of their own.
“She’d get put up in the air and take the odd elbow but she’d give it back too.
“Her ability on the ball was amazing. She had perfect balance and I lost count of the number of games she ran from the midfield.
(Photo: SNS)
“You’d hear other coaches shout at their players to snap her but she never flinched. She was too good.”
Brian fully expects her to hit even greater heights at Chelsea and reckons she can become a bigger household name than Scotland’s most decorated female footballer Julie Fleeting.
He added: “Erin has everything required to become one of the best players down there. I was told once that Julie Fleeting even admitted Erin was a better player than her at this age.
“I take great satisfaction in what she’s achieved but a lot of the credit must go to her dad, who has been a great influence and support for her.”