Lana Clelland – The Pride of Sassuolo

Lana Clelland moved to Italy as a 21-year-old, leaving behind part-time football in Scotland for the opportunity to turn pro in another country. Now in her 12^th season in Italy, Lana sat down with me to discuss her time in Italy, the current influx of Scottish players in the men’s game there and where her future in the game may lie.

Clelland is currently playing for Sassuolo in the women’s version of Serie A and has been at the club since 2021. Sassuolo may not be a household name to those outside of Italy with less than a passing interest in Italian football, but they are doing great things in the women’s game as Lana explains.

Family club

“Sassuolo is a very small place. So, it is a close, family orientated club working together for each other in amongst the communities. We are trying to gain as much fans as possible in and around the area and trying to help in our communities. For example, in the last couple of seasons the club had ongoing work with animal shelters in the area to help try and get cats and dogs into homes. Things like that around the area help grow the club and bring everyone together.

The club is trying to grow the youth side of the game and, especially in the men’s game over the last few years, you have seen big names coming through and going on typical big clubs. So, the club is trying to help improve the Italian youth players and that is coming into the women’s game as well. Our team over the last few years has got younger and younger, which obviously makes me feel a lot older! But it is nice to try and help improve the younger players and build them going forward.

The women’s side of the club has got the largest number of girls registered at the youth age in the country, as of the last year. They are definitely trying to grow a bit like the men’s game on that side. I have obviously been at the club for a while now and over the last few years we have pushed on. We have had second place, third place and we have had semi-finals in cup competitions. We are trying to improve and stay up there with the big guns, but obviously it is hard with the money side of things not being as big a club as the likes of Juventus or Milan.”

Huge changes

As Lana alluded to, she is one the ‘older’ players in her team at the age of 32. Having been in the game in Italy since her early twenties, she has seen some huge changes in the women’s game on the peninsula and across the world. Indeed, a look at the table when Lana joined her first Italian club Pink Sport Bari is almost unrecognisable to today’s standings with virtually no teams linked to established clubs back then.

“It has changed massively. If you look back at the league table from when I first came across, you would not even recognise many of the team names. There are a lot of players that are still playing that were there when I first came across, but the league has completely changed. A lot of the traditional men’s clubs have come in and brought in women’s teams to the professional setup and that has got a lot better. The national team have also been doing well over the last the last few years which is obviously helping too.”

Intensity

“The women’s game here has changed off, as well as on the pitch. The quality of the facilities that are made available to us every single day now obviously helps you improve. Being able to work on the little things that maybe you could not have in the past, even your nutrition and everything that goes with becoming professional football player is better than it was. The intensity on the pitch as we have grown the physical side has really increased, so that improves the actual quality of football. I think that shows with the likes of Juventus in the last couple of years in the Champions League. They were able to compete in that European environment and obviously the national team have shown that too.”

Italian national team

The Italian women’s national side reached the semi-final of the 2025 Euros, an achievement which marks their improvement on the national stage as well as the overall health of the women’s game in the country. A good showing at a Euros or World Cup can have a huge impact on the growth of women’s football, as England have shown since their win at the Euros in 2022. It can also be difficult to capitalise on that added interest in the game, as the Scotland national team have found since qualifying for their first World Cup in 2019.

“The game got a surge in interest here in 2019 after the World Cup and it has happened again this year. It is nice to have that boost, but I think it needs to grow every year. It cannot just be every four years or every two years because of a major competition. Everyone is working on that in the background, trying to push as much as they can. Obviously, when you get on a world stage or a European stage, players and the teams get acknowledged a lot more. We are all working on trying to better that for everyone, not just for the national team players.

I think it is harder for Scotland to grow the game, having England so close. You look at them and you would like to be able to do the same things as them, but then you remember you are losing a lot of the best Scottish players to England. It is so close and players want to go and better themselves and try and play for bigger clubs. I think it is a really hard situation for Scotland in that sense, but I think they will continue to grow their league as well.”

Scottish invasion

Lana may have spent over a decade playing in Italy but there has been a more recent surge of Scottish talent arriving in the country. As well as female Scottish internationals Christy Grimshaw and Sophie Howard, there are now several male players in Serie A. The likes of Scott McTominay, Lewis Ferguson and Billy Gilmour have joined the likes of Josh Doig and Liam Henderson who all currently play their football in Italy. As an established Scot living and playing in Italy, Lana would seem to be a good person to ask about life in the country.

“I think I started a trend! Most of the boys I have spoken to and I have known Liam Henderson for many years being out here. I spoke to Lewis Ferguson, to Billy Gilmour and obviously I have got Josh Doig here playing for Sassuolo, so I see him quite regularly. It is a great place to come and improve your football skills because I think there is a lot over here on the technical and tactical side that you do not learn in Scottish football. If that can help to improve the men’s national team as well then even better.”

Tactical sessions

“I remember when Liam first came across and we were chatting about the tactical side and he was saying that he had never done so many tactical sessions. Your full week could be based on the tactical side of the game whereas maybe at home, you would be more concentrated on yourself and doing boxes and shooting. Then you would maybe have one session towards the end of the week on ‘this is how we are going to play.’

Here, you would analyse your game from the weekend and then you would go straight into how you are going to play the next weekend. That would be implemented into the training in a certain style to go towards how you are going to play at the next game. It is interesting because at home teams play a certain way and that is the way they will play no matter who they are playing against. In Italy we change every single week depending on who we are playing against. That takes a full week of work trying to get it right.”

Moving abroad

Clelland would love to see more young female Scottish players make the move to Italy and feels that it would improve them as players and as people off the pitch. Lana has 40 international caps to her name herself and does not feel like being out of the country should prevent players being picked for the national team. She is also open to representing her country again despite not being involved in recent squads and I asked if she had spoken with new Scotland manager Melissa Andreatta.

“Moving abroad should not put players off from the perspective of not being chosen for the national team. The technology these days means that every game can be seen no matter where you are in the world. A lot of girls have gone and played abroad and they are still playing a big part in the squad. It improves you as an individual and improves your qualities so there should be no fear about where you play, if it is the best choice for you.”

Scotland

“I think you can learn more in a culture like Italian or Spanish football. I think England is similar to Scottish football although there might be more money. There might be more investment in England, but I think the football side of it has a different quality that you will not be able to learn in England. Also, the personal side, the culture and everything that you have got to do when moving to a new country helps you grow as a person outside of the actual football environment. I think I would recommend doing that just to help grow yourself as a person first and foremost.

There has been no conversation (with Andreatta). Like I have said in the past, I will always be open and I am definitely 100% Scottish, even if people seem to think I’m Italian too! I would definitely be open to that call, if it ever comes, but I am just concentrating on myself right now and trying to be the best that I can be for Sassuolo.”

Coaching

Clelland is the highest scoring foreign player in the history of Italian women’s club football. Her experiences at club and international level suggest she is an ideal candidate for a coaching role once she moves on from her playing career, something which she has only recently considered.

“If you had asked me that five years ago, I would have said no. As of today, yes. I have not decided on the exact department of where I would like to work but it would be working with the youth players. I love being around them and I have appreciated that much more in the last couple of years as a senior player trying to help by passing on my experience. I’ve enjoyed that part of the game over the last couple of years but where it will take me, I am not sure, but I hope to stay in the game when I finish playing.

Before I came to Sassuolo, I was about 26 and probably thinking I was in the prime years of my career. I think over the last five years being here around so many youth players and seeing how much I can help them, has changed my view of my own role. I have taken it on naturally by trying to help them day in, day out.”

Impact

“We have had a few loan players which has been nice because I have maybe been working with them for a year. I know I have got that loan period to work with them and then they are moving on to the next part of their career. Take for example, Sophia Cantore who has just gone to Washington Spirit. I worked with her for a year and it was probably the prime example of how I could help a player before they continue their path. I feel real pride in being a part of her journey.  It was probably those first couple of years here that I started to appreciate that I could give something back because I did not think that I could do that before. Whether it be on the pitch or off, it has probably been the biggest change in me personally.”

It is great to know that Lana is planning to stay in the game beyond her playing career and that she will not be lost to the game. In terms of her staying in Italy, it feels like her home nation has lost her to her new home.

Home

“The food is brilliant. The sun is brilliant. The people are unbelievable. Italians make you feel at home, especially if they recognise that you are accepting their culture and trying to become like them. I think something that probably you would not know back home is that Italy is not all the same, it is very different. You could go to the south, you could go to the north, you could be central and they are all very different, even the people. You will find different things within them but they are all great in their own way. I think the same goes for the food. In the UK, they think it is all pizza and pasta whereas every region has got their own dishes, their own special dishes.

Italy is all positive for me. I do not think I would still be here if it wasn’t to be honest with you. I am trying my hardest to get an Italian passport because I have been here long enough now, so I have definitely found myself and my home here.”