The club are delighted to confirm the signature of talented full-back Kayleigh Mitchell on a permanent basis from Gartcairn.

The 22-year-old Glasgow native puts pen to paper following the conclusion of a productive loan-spell where she made a telling contribution; quickly amassing a quarter century of appearances since her arrival in October of last year.

Commencing her football within Celtic’s academy, Kayleigh would also feature in boys football until the age cut-over bracket; transitioning via Bedlay Girls into the academy system at Hamilton Academical.

Playing through the Lanarkshire sides aged groups, with time at Celtic & Glasgow thereafter, Kayleigh would find regular senior football back at Hamilton before moving onto Gartcairn.

It would be in a match against Livingston in February 2024 that Kayleigh suffered an ACL injury requiring corrective surgery, with 20 months on the sidelines to follow. With the hard miles completed Kayleigh made her return to on-field action wearing Warriors Maroon as a 2^nd half substitute against Rossvale and hasn’t looked back since.

“As it is for any player in a similar position it was really daunting coming back from a big injury” explains Kayleigh “Being here at Stenhousemuir provided me with the perfect environment to start re-building my confidence and start enjoying my football again”.

“Getting back on the pitch in the first place was an amazing feeling and to go from that to completing full 90s was great”

“The players and staff made me feel so welcome and were a massive support in helping me start to feel like myself on the pitch again; sometimes it can seem that feeling is always stuck on the horizon, so just so to be finishing the season feeling the way I am is just great”

Kayleigh in action against Bonnyrigg Rose earlier in the month
(Picture courtesy of Mark Brown)

Having made a major contribution on both sides of the park over the course of the 2025-26 season, the focus for Kayleigh in the coming season is clear.

“Personally, I just want to keep improving what my best looks like and try to be as consistent as possible in the process. The season was a little bit up and down for us from a team perspective, but I felt we really started to express ourselves post-split.”

“I think we owe it to ourselves, the staff and the club to maintain that high level of performance, get as many points on the board and really push as hard as we can for promotion this term.”

Manager Jack Cameron adds “I’m delighted to have Kayleigh signing permanently with us. She’s been an excellent addition to the squad this year and has shown great consistency for us since she arrived. To come back from a long injury and be as comfortable playing across the back line is to her credit and we’re looking forward to seeing her continued progression into next year with a full pre-season under her belt.”