Club captain Rachael Boyle has extended her stay with the Club until the end of the 2025/26 campaign!

An Aberdeen native, Boyle (née Small) began her senior football career with the Dons before making the switch to Forfar Farmington in 2010. She would later return to Aberdeen midway through the 2013 Scottish Women’s Premier League season. 

‘Smally’ completed her move to Hibs Women in July 2016, by which point she was an accomplished Scotland international. 

She would win the Scottish Cup immediately in 2016 with the Hibees, before repeating the feat the next year – starting and scoring in the 2017 final versus Glasgow City as Hibs ran out 3-0 winners.

Boyle would also be a key player in the Hibees’ SWPL Cup successes in the late 2010’s as Hibs won three of their four consecutive League Cup triumphs following the midfielder’s arrival in mid-2016 – with Smally captaining the team, and scoring, in their 2017 final victory over Celtic. 

After giving birth to her second daughter in September 2022, her return to action in February 2023 was bittersweet. Subbed on to rapturous applause against Glasgow Women, she would score with her first touch before netting another from the spot in a 7-0 win. But just two weeks later, she ruptured her cruciate ligament. 

Boyle would miss the entirety of the 2023/24 season, but would eventually return on 6 October 2024 and play 14 times for the Hibees during their title drive. An injury sustained in mid-February ruled Boyle out for the rest of the campaign.

Smally would recover to take her place on the bench versus Rangers on the final day, allowing her to lift the Club’s first SWPL trophy in almost two decades.

Throughout her glittering career, the versatile midfielder has also racked up an impressive 43 international caps for Scotland. After captaining the Under-19s in the 2010 UEFA U19 European Championship campaign, she has featured regularly over time for the ‘A’ Squad – making her debut in a 2-1 victory against Poland.