Hearts' Kathleen McGovern happy to have fresh start in the capital

The 21-year-old became the Jam Tarts' fourth signing of the summer last month as the striker looked to kick start her career again in Scotland. After calling time on an 11-year spell at Celtic in 2021, McGovern moved to SC Sands in Germany with the aim of progressing her career further. However, injuries prevented the striker from ever showing her full potential at the 2. Bundesliga club which helped to create a tough experience for the youngster in central Europe. Now after returning to her homeland last month, the 21-year-old is aiming to use her experience to her advantage in the upcoming season.

“I had a very hard last season,” she told the Edinburgh Evening News. “As soon as I knew there was interest from Hearts, after the meeting I was very much set to come back. It has been hard with injuries over the past year but now I am settled here and hopefully, I can just continue that.”

“It was a different experience. Being away from home is hard and I had to grow up very fast. I’ve gained experience from there and now I have come back I hope I can provide that at Hearts.”

Her experience has seemed to have put the striker in good stead so far. McGovern has netted multiple times this pre-season finding the back of the net against Durham before going on to score twice past Motherwell last month. With Katie Lockwood and Danni McGinley also joining the club alongside Georgia Timms signing a new deal, it’s safe to say the 21-year-old should have plenty of support up top in the upcoming campaign. Priding herself on her link-up play, McGovern will be hoping that her form continues into the start of the season.

“I’m loving it,” she added. “I’ve loved the past few weeks, pre-season has been good, the girls have been really welcoming and nice. The standards have been very high so far. It’s been good.

“It’s been a good start for the forwards. Hopefully, in the rest of the pre-season games we can continue to improve and we will see what happens. It’s been positive so far, I feel good physically. I just want to kick on this year and put in a good performance for myself and my teammates.

“I like to stay in the 18-yard box and just score goals and help my teammates. My link-up play is one of my strengths. I really just like to be in and around the 18-yard box and score as many goals as possible for this season coming.”

Hearts will kick off the start of their SWPL campaign next Sunday as they travel to McGovern’s former side Hamilton. With seven new players now through the door, the Jam Tarts have certainly wasted no time in upgrading their team as they look to put more pressure on the top three teams.