WATCH: Hearts Manager Olid expects to be "more competitive"
Hearts Women Manager Eva Olid has been speaking to Radio Forth about her expectations as the club goes Semi-professional
Hearts Women Manager Eva Olid expects to be "more competitive" next season as the club goes Semi-professional.
A number of the current players have been offered contracts, and more changes are expected soon.
The development brings the club in line with city rivals Hibernian, who began offering players part-time terms in 2020.
"Sometimes it's difficult to compete against teams that are full time or have the condition of part-time and you're without that resources" she told Radio Forth.
"You can see the difference on the pitch."
The Spaniard, who was appointed last Summer, arrived with ambitious plans.
She offered some insight into how things stepped up when she arrived, explaining the club already offer five training sessions a week to players - with three of them mandatory.
That's despite the fact the players have to juggle jobs or studying with their football.
For Olid she believes this isn't just a good sign for the club, but for Scottish women's football as a whole.
She said:
"This is regarding the team but regarding the women's football it's an important step too.
"That the 1st division, all the team can be semi-professional and in a short time professional teams."
One big advantage of becoming semi-professional could become apparent in the summer, as Olid looks to bring in new recruits.
She told us:
"This helps a lot, I think that now the players when we call they are interested to know what we can offer to them.
"and it's a big change - when you are calling saying come here just to play."
Hearts will host Kilmarnock at the Oriam tomorrow night (April 1st) in a Scottish Cup quarter final, with a 7pm kick-off.