Kirsty Howat

Kirsty Elizabeth Howat (born 19 May 1997) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a forward for Rangers in the Scottish Women's Premier League, and for the Scotland national team.

Kirsty Howat

Personal information
Full name	Kirsty Elizabeth Howat-Thomson
Date of birth	(1997-05-19) 19 May 1997 (age 28)
Place of birth	Dumfries, Scotland
Height	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Rangers
Number	9
Youth career
2004–2010	Lochar Thistle
2010–2012	Dumfries Girls
2012–2014	Rangers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2016	Rangers
2016–2018	Celtic
2018–2020	Glasgow City
2020–	Rangers	53+	(40+)
International career‡
2013	Scotland U16	3	(1)
2013	Scotland U17	14	(4)
2014–2016	Scotland U19	15	(5)
2024–	Scotland	1	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 27 May 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 15 July 2024

Career

Howat started her career with youth teams Lochar Thistle, Dumfries and Rangers before debuting with the latter in the Scottish Women's Premier League in 2014. The following year she joined Celtic^[1] where she spent two seasons. On 18 January 2018 she moved to rivals and reigning champions Glasgow City,^[2] winning her first SWPL title and also making her debut in the UEFA Women's Champions League. She left the club with two league titles and one Scottish Women's Cup medal.

In December 2020, Howat returned to Rangers^[3] on a pre-contract arrangement agreed six months earlier;^[4] her teammate Sam Kerr made the same switch,^[5] soon followed by Rachel McLauchlan^[6] while Nicola Docherty had made the move across the city some months previously. In her first full season back with the Gers, 2021–22, Howat was part of the squad that won the SWPL for the first time in club history;^[7] in the second season they won the Scottish Women's Premier League Cup for the first time (she was among the scorers in the final),^[8] and in the third season they retained the SWPL Cup^[9] and won their first Scottish Cup,^[10] also narrowly missing out on the league title in both years.

International career

Howat was called up to the Scotland national under-16 team for a friendly tournament in Portugal,^[11] where she made appearances in games against Portugal, Netherlands and Austria, scoring her first goal in the match against Austria. A few months later she was drafted into the under-17 team by coach Pauline Hamill for two friendly games against Wales, scoring on her debut. Howat was a member of the squad that contested the qualifiers for the 2014 European Championship in England; these games were played before the end of 2013 to serve as qualification for the Costa Rica World Cup which was scheduled for spring 2014. She was then named in the squad for the 2013 European Championship and played in all three matches: Scotland lost against France 1–0 and Germany 4–2, and drew in the final game against Spain.

In 2014 she was named in the under-19 team and played in the 2014 European Championship; Howat featured in two of the three matches, a 2–0 victory against Belgium and 3–2 defeat against Netherlands, missing the 5–0 loss to Norway. She also played in the 2015 and 2016 European Championship qualification games.^[12]

Howat was added to the full Scotland squad for the first time in September 2023, as a replacement for the injured Emma Watson.^[13] She was an unused substitute on several occasions before making her debut from the bench against Slovakia in a UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying fixture in Nitra on 13 July 2024.^[14]

Honours

Club

Glasgow City^[15]

• Scottish Women's Premier League: 2018, 2019
• Scottish Women's Cup: 2019

Rangers

• Scottish Women's Premier League: 2021–22
• Scottish Women's Cup: 2023–24
• Scottish Women's Premier League Cup: 2022–23, 2023–24