Awaiting ‘Arrival’ (She Reads: Nicola Docherty on Scotland’s first World Cup)

Nicola Docherty still gets goosebumps talking about the 2019 World Cup, and still cannot quite believe she went to one. The Rangers and Scotland defender was interviewed for Steven Lawther’s Arrival, a book about how Scotland reached their first World Cup under Anna Signeul and Shelley Kerr and the hurdles earlier generations faced. She burst out crying when told she was selected, and describes the feeling as overwhelming. She played against England, where a Fran Kirby cross glanced her arm for a first-half penalty she did not feel at the time, and against Argentina, where three late goals ended the campaign – a last fifteen minutes she calls madness and could not watch back for a long time. She remains upbeat about a squad containing Erin Cuthbert, Rachel Corsie and Kim Little.