Sky is the limit for Hibs star McGovern but she's in no rush to move on following SWPL title success

Daily Mail​

5 hours ago

Kathleen McGovern had barely got off the plane than the trainers were on and her feet were hitting the pavements. The Hibs striker does not like to stand still for long.
McGovern took a break in the sun but had itchy feet. She has always been in a hurry. With 31 goals last season as well as a SWPL Championship medal after helping Hibs to the title, McGovern rounded off the season with a couple of Scotland caps – and an international goal. She is already hankering for the start of the season.
'I miss it,' she said. 'I miss being around the girls, the laughing and joking around and the training. I can't ever properly rest. I always like to be on the go. I know that mentally and physically I needed the break but I was still getting a couple of runs in when I was away.'
McGovern will turn 23 later this week. With ample experience at SWPL level, she has done herself no harm at all with international impact. Inevitably, the question has to be asked about what the long-term goal is although she is already well versed in the vagaries of football to indulge in substantial plans for down the line.
Her immediate sights are not any further than the year she is contracted to Hibs for, albeit ultimately there is an ambition to test herself at the highest possible level.
'I know that life in football can change very quickly and I have already experienced some of that so I am always reluctant to look too far ahead,' she said. 'But I would have long-term ambitions to go and play at a higher level some day. I am young and still at the early stages of my career and right now my full focus is on Hibs and helping us defend the title.
'But ultimately I do think that that I want to test myself at the highest possible level I can. Right now, though, I am loving life at Hibs and I think that has been reflected in the football that I've played this season.'
There will be a taste of that higher level incoming. Hibs discover their Champions League fate on Tuesday as they prepare for a first step they hope can take them into a newly formatted tournament and structure that will copy the men's tournament last season.
'I am so excited for the draw,' she said. 'Everything about it will be new. Not just on the pitch but off it too – the travelling and playing abroad.
'I cannot wait for it. It is another chance to test ourselves against the best and there is no reason why we can't go and make an impact.'
These weeks of down time, though, offer the chance to process the gripping finale to the season. Few fancied Hibs to go all the way, particularly after an emphatic defeat to Rangers in March in the Sky Sports cup final. Grant Scott's side compounded all expectations as they headed to Ibrox on the final day of the season to beat Rangers and win the league.
'I actually don't think it has sunk in yet,' said McGovern. 'Going to Ibrox on the last day of the season, I think we knew that outside of our own dressing room no one really gave us a chance.
'We knew we were the underdogs but it just felt meant to be. We were never going to go there and play for a draw, we were always going to win.
'I think so many people thought that we would fall apart after the Sky Sports Cup final but we regrouped and just went again.
'It was just the best moment of my career so far, to go to Ibrox and win the league with Hibs.
'It was such an amazing season. I think I have played the best football of my career this season but I know that there is more to come from me.'
If the party on the final day was to be relished so too was her first Scotland goal. Called into Melissa Andreatta's squad, McGovern's goal in a gutsy draw against Netherlands has been on repeat.
'I went in thinking that I probably wouldn't play,' said McGovern. 'So getting the game at Hampden was amazing and then starting against Netherlands was incredible. Getting the goal was just such a surreal feeling. Yeah, I've watched it back more than a few times!
'Funnily enough, the other night I was heading up to bed and I could hear my dad watching it again on his phone. It was just such an amazing feeling and moment.
'It does make you want more. I know that there are a lot of talented players and I am never one who wants to look too far ahead, but I definitely have ambitions of being part of the Scotland set-up going forward. It has been a long standing ambition just to get into the squad and having done that and got a taste of it, I definitely want to stay.
'I just tried to be myself. I was a bit nervous going in but there were a few players in the same position and I just wanted to make the most of it.
'I don't know if I have the words for what an amazing season it was but I am ready now to go and do it all again.'