Kirsty Maclean
Kirsty Maclean is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Women's Super League club Liverpool and the Scotland national team.
Club career
Rangers
A pupil at Barrhead High School, where she achieved five Highers in 2022, Maclean progressed through the girls' academy at Rangers. She made her senior debut during the 2021–22 Scottish Women's Premier League season aged 16, making a handful of appearances as Rangers won their first championship. Along with teammates Jodi McLeary and Emma Watson, she signed a professional contract in August 2022.After establishing herself as a regular in the squad during the 2022–23 season, in which she also made four appearances in the UEFA Women's Champions League, was introduced as a late substitute in Rangers' win over Hibernian in the SWPL Cup final and was nominated for the PFA Scotland Women's Young Player of the Year, Maclean signed an extended contract in May 2023. The campaign ended in disappointment on a collective level, however, as Rangers lost their title with a home defeat to Glasgow City on the final matchday, then were defeated by their other local rivals Celtic in the 2023 Scottish Cup Final a week later.
Rangers won the 2023–24 Scottish Women's Premier League Cup and the 2023–24 Scottish Women's Cup although they missed out on the SWPL championship again, this time on goal difference. Maclean was nominated for both the PFA Scotland Women's Players' Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year but lost out on both awards to clubmates Rachel Rowe and Mia McAulay respectively; however, she was named in the Team of the Year.
Rangers again narrowly missed out on the SWPL title in 2024–25, losing out to Hibernian on the last matchday which handed the championship to the Edinburgh side and also allowed Glasgow City to claim the runners-up spot and Champions League place; they had to be content with retaining both knockout trophies with comfortable wins against those same rivals, Maclean starting both matches. Individually she was again named in the SWPL Team of the Year.
Liverpool
On 14 July 2025, it was announced that Maclean had signed for Women's Super League club Liverpool.Playing style
As a midfielder with a low centre of gravity, good ball control and passing skills, her style of play has been compared to that of Andres Iniesta and Erin Cuthbert.International career
Maclean has represented Scotland at under-15, under-16, under-17 and under-19 levels, as well as a schoolgirl international for three consecutive years.She was called up to the Scotland senior team for the first time for a friendly double-header against Northern Ireland and Finland in July 2023; she made her senior international debut as a substitute in a 3–0 win over Northern Ireland at Dens Park in Dundee.