Heather McEwan calls it a day — 48 caps, and she left Scotland’s shirt in a better place
She waited three years for a first cap. She finished at a World Cup
Heather McEwan’s Scotland career never took the easy road, so it’s fitting it ended on the biggest stage she ever played on.
Scottish Hockey has announced McEwan’s retirement from international hockey: 48 caps, 11 goals, eight years, done. Her last tournament was the 2026 FIH Women’s World Cup, where Scotland were back on the global stage for the first time in 24 years. Walking away after that? Hard to argue with the timing.
“I had a conversation about retiring months before the World Cup,” McEwan said. “I wanted to finish on a high, and I did that. It’s easy to walk away when things are not going well, but it’s hard when things are good and you are having so much fun.”
Born in South Africa, capped against South Africa
McEwan was born and raised in South Africa and qualified for Scotland through her father, who is from Oban. She moved to England in 2018 to play for Holcombe, where Scotland head coach Jen Wilson first raised the idea.
Then she waited. She’d represented South Africa at indoor hockey, so the eligibility clock ran for three years before she could play a capped match. Three years of uncapped games and training camps with no guarantee at the end of it.
Her debut, when it finally came, was at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Against South Africa. Scotland won 4-2.
“I probably laughed when I realised I was going to get my first cap against South Africa,” she said. You couldn’t make it up, and she didn’t have to.
The goals that moved Scotland up a level
Her first Scotland goal came in the EuroHockey Championship Qualifiers in Dunkirk, a penalty corner rebound against hosts France. After that, the pattern of her career was scoring in games that changed things.
She scored the winner in Glasgow in 2024 when Scotland beat Wales 2-1 in the qualifier final, in the rain, in front of a home crowd. She scored the decisive goal when Scotland beat Ireland 3-2 at the 2025 Euros, a tournament Scotland finished sixth. And in Hyderabad, in the World Cup qualifiers, she scored Scotland’s opening goal in the draw with hosts India on the run that ended with a 1-0 win over Italy and a World Cup place sealed.
Then came the World Cup itself in August 2026. Scotland beat Ireland and New Zealand, and it was McEwan who scored the winner in the 2-1 victory over New Zealand. Scotland finished 12th, losing 2-1 to Japan at the end, and that was that.
“I’ve left the shirt in a better place”
That’s her own verdict, and the record backs it. When McEwan started, Scotland weren’t beating Spain, Ireland and New Zealand at major tournaments. By the end, they were, and she’d scored in several of those wins.
“As sad as I am to leave, I feel like I’ve left the shirt in a better place,” she said. “I’ve made my peace with the decision and will be forever grateful when looking back on this journey.”
Scotland’s next generation now has to hold the level she helped set. That’s a harder job than it sounds, because players who score winners in qualifiers and World Cups don’t grow on trees. But the shirt, as she says, is in a better place than she found it.
Scotland’s men were in action this week too — catch up with the Scottish Premiership round-up.
