Next up in our series of reflective interviews, celebrating the 145^th Anniversary of our beloved Club, we spoke with Aimee Ridgeway about our ‘invincible’ Championship winning season of 2021/22, which was a particularly successful season for Aimee on a personal front.

Qu 1 – What are your abiding memories of the day you won the title?

The unbeaten season scoring a lot of goals. We won against our promotion rivals East Fife, winning 4-1. We had a fantastic season.

Qu 2 – At the start of that season, how did you assess the squad around you and how well did you think it would do?

The 2020-2021 season was cancelled due to COVID, leaving us without training or games for an entire year. Although we stayed in touch through Zoom calls and kept meeting the team online, it was still a good feeling to reunite in person. We put in a lot of hard work during pre-season, but if you had asked anyone at the beginning of the season whether we’d go unbeaten and win promotion, I doubt anyone would have predicted it.

Qu 3 – What were the key moments/games in that campaign for you?

I always enjoyed playing against Dryburgh, our rivals, and East Fife, who were competing with us for promotion. They were tough teams and beating them always gave the squad a real confidence boost. Personally, my standout moments were scoring 70 goals, getting invited onto Soccer AM, and being named the league’s Player of the Year. I have made lifelong friends who I still keep in touch with. This is another key moment for me.

Qu 4 – At what stage in the season did you start to think, we could win this?

Our first few games, at the start of the season our scores were high. We had scored 33 goals in 4 games.

Qu 5 – What are you most proud of from that season?

I truly believe our togetherness and hard work were evident on the pitch. After returning from the COVID break, I’m proud of how both the team and coaching staff put in the effort to make sure we had a successful season.

Qu 6 – How does it make you feel to know you were part of a successful period in the history of Montrose FC?

Montrose was the first proper club that really looked after me and the girls, so being part of such a successful period in their history means a lot to me. When I first started playing football with Aberdeen, we were training in a car park outside Pittodrie! It’s incredible to see how far women’s football has come since then. Clubs like Montrose are now fully backing the women’s game, ensuring we have equal opportunities. This progress wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication of the coaching staff, who helped push the women’s team to the highest league in the SWPL. Now, we have cameras at Links Park every week, showcasing the game. I hope one day my daughter or son will witness this and be inspired to become football players themselves.

Read our previous interview with Mark Haro about Season 1994/95 – https://montrosefc.co.uk/2024/10/28/in-their-own-words-season-1994-95/

All our interviews, plus much more will be published in a commemorative 145^th Anniversary souvenir matchday programme on Saturday 9^th November for our game against Arbroath.