The Big Interview: Laura Montgomery

Montgomery co-started the Scottish club in 1998 as a player and behind the scenes has turned Glasgow City into the most successful in the country, through nothing but hard work and passion.

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Laura Montgomery (left) and Carol Anne Stewart, co-founded Glasgow City in 1998

It’s 4:25pm on Tuesday and Laura Montgomery’s latest meeting is running over, which means she’s slightly late for our arranged call. But that’s no issue, in fact, when you see what her average day is like, it’s perfect understandable.

Today alone the Glasgow City Chief Executive - a role she’s held full-time since 2020 - has visited the club’s retail partner to choose their kits and training wear for next season, had a Zoom call with a potential new signing and her agent, and then had a meeting with a supplier about new gym equipment.

“What does running a football club involve? It involves a thousand and one things,” she quips, and that’s without the backdrop of this weekend’s Scottish Women’s Premier League title-decider to think about.

Montgomery has given her life to Glasgow City, quite literally. This year marks 25 years she has been involved. From setting the club up herself alongside Carol Anne Stewart in 1998, playing for the club for 12 years, before moving into a behind the scenes role running the club on a day-to-day basis.

“Two high-level jobs was probably going to kill me…”

When she became full-time Chief Executive in 2020, she finally gave up working a dual role in another high-level job as Head of Sales and Partnerships at Hibernian.

“That was a combination of a reflection of where we were at, the board asking me and a personal reflection that if I didn’t change something I would have a heart attack or a stroke. Two high-level jobs was probably going to kill me, because I did nothing but work.

“We have more support staff now. Back in the day I’d do everything from social media to contracts, but now we have our media team. We have a full-time playing and training staff. I’m heavily involved with the recruitment, I have a legal background so draw up the contracts, negotiate with agents and also represent the club as a director with the league.”

She admits things have changed “significantly” since things started out in the late 1990s, when Montgomery was recovering from a serious knee injury and in the midst of worrying about who would take her on after almost three years out, instead decided to set up her own club, one which would go on to dominate Scottish women’s football.