Yahoo Sports Aston Villa’s latest hire highlights growing trend of foreign WSL managers
The Women’s Super League (WSL) is experiencing a significant shift in its managerial landscape, with foreign coaches now occupying half of the filled managerial positions.
This trend has sparked debate and raised questions about the representation of English managers in the top tier of women’s football.
The recent hiring of Robert de Pauw by Aston Villa means 50% of the WSL managers’ job are now occupied by foreign managers
There are five non-English managers out of 10 jobs currently filled with two jobs still open at Brighton and Leicester.
The five jobs held by English coaches ranked by hiring date are Manchester City (Gareth Taylor), Liverpool (Matt Beard), Manchester United (Mark Skinner), Crystal Palace (Laura Kaminski), West Ham (Rehanne Skinner).
On the foreign side, Arsenal’s Jonas Eidevall is the longest manager in post, followed by Brian Sorensen at Everton, Robert Vilahamn at Tottenham with Sonia Bompastor at Chelsea and Robert de Pauw at Aston Villa new hires for the 2024/25 season.
For the Leicester job, a French manager Amandine Miquel is rumoured to be the favourite to replace interim manager Jennifer Foster, while at Brighton, we have no idea who will take over from interim manager Mikey Harris.
It is important to note that to hire a foreign manager, a work permit has to be delivered and the process is the same as for the players.
The criteria is very strong:
A manager will only be granted a GBE if: a) The manager will have overall responsibility for the first team of the applicant club. b) The manager holds a UEFA professional licence/diploma or equivalent. c) The applicant club does not have an existing manager (or, if the club does have an existing manager, the club has confirmed to The FA in writing that the existing manager will not be in post when the manager commences his or her employment). Where a club has been issued with a GBE for an existing manager, a GBE will not be granted in respect of a new manager until The FA has received written confirmation that the existing manager is no longer working in that capacity for the club or will not be in post when the manager commences his or her employment. d) The manager has: i. Managed a club in a top league for the prescribed time; or ii. Managed an international team for the prescribed time which had an aggregated FIFA Women’s World Ranking of 40 or above for the entire prescribed time.
The UEFA pro licence is needed to coach in the Premier League, Football League, Women Super League and international game. It is the toughest licence to gain for managers. A couple of seasons ago, a UEFA A licence was enough to coach in the WSL, the level and expectation have definitely been raised.
The current WSL coaching numbers are quite explicit: 50% of foreign coaches and also 30% of women coaches right now. You do wonder why there are so few women coaching in the Women Super League as there are many women coaches available.
Here is a list of all the English women who have coached in the WSL in the past: Laura Harvey, Gemma Davies, Carla Ward, Hope Powell, Melissa Phillips, Lauren Smith, Emma Hayes, Emma Coates, Mo Marley, Jennifer Herst, Lydia Bedford, Jennifer Forster, Vicky Jepson, Kelly Chambers, Melanie Copeland, Karen Hills, Casey Stoney.
29 of 82 managers jobs went to women in the all-time WSL records. From the names above, you would hope clubs would try to hire English women managers, at least those who are out of a job and are good managers with a good record. Casey Stoney, who has recently been sacked by San Diego Waves, should really be high on any club’s list.
It will be very interesting to see who Leicester and Brighton pick for their managerial vacancy and if the trend towards foreign or male managers carries on.
