The Women Currently Coaching in Women’s Soccer – and Why There Aren’t More

Women’s soccer has come a long way in many aspects. But one spot that it’s still lacking is the number of female coaches there are around the world – there simply aren’t enough. We are still seeing very few women coaching professional teams in many of the different leagues and at the international level.

NWSL

Since the NWSL was formed there have never been more than two women head coaches in the league at the same time. In the NWSL right now there is only one woman leading a team, NJ/NY Gotham FC’s Freya Coombe.

Coombe has been with Gotham since September of 2019 and the 2021 season will be her first full season as head coach of the squad. The former player is starting to see her vision come alive in this Gotham team; they made it to the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup Final, after all. They put together two wins, one of which was against the North Carolina Courage, and two ties to top the East Division. 

FAWSL – 5 out of 12

The number of female head coaches in the FA WSL is drastically different than the NWSL but is it enough? Currently, five women are coaching in England, there would have been six but Casey Stoney resigned from Manchester United at the end of the season. Carla Ward also resigned from her spot at Birmingham City. 

Emma Hayes is considered to be one of the best coaches in women’s soccer right now – if not the best. She led Chelsea to their second straight FA WSL title and FA Women’s League Cup. The blues also reached the Champions League final. Though they suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Barcelona. 

Tanya Oxtoby has been the head coach at Bristol City since 2018 and has worked to improve the club since taking the manager spot. Kelly Chambers took over as manager of Reading FC in 2015 after spending time as a player with the club. 

Hope Powell is currently the head coach of Brighton and Hove Albion. She was also the coach of the England Women’s National Team from 1998-2013. She was the youngest England coach and also the first female in the position. 

Rehanne Skinner was appointed head coach of Tottenham Hotspurs late in 2020. Before joining Tottenham she was the assistant coach of the England Women’s National Team. 

WNTs

Pia Sundhage is currently the head coach of Brazil, but soccer fans in the U.S will remember her from her time with the USWNT. She also spent time as the head coach of Sweden. Currently, she’s in her third season with Brazil. 

Martina Voss Techlenburg had a long career as a player with the German National team but is now in her second season as head coach of the German squad. Bev Priestman is currently the head coach of Canada. She came over to Canada after spending time as the England U18 WNT coach. 

We are seeing more women get head coaching spots now; Olympique Lyonnais recently hired Sonia Bompastor as their first female head coach in club history. But though there have been marked improvements in this area, female coaches in football around the world are an exception to the rule.

Part of why more women aren’t coaching is because there is a lack of resources and mentorship. U.S. Soccer has created the Jill Ellis Scholarship Fund, a nod to former USWNT head coach Jill Ellis, who took the team to their 3rd and 4th World Cup titles. The fund will look to increase the number of women coaching by helping with funds, mentorship, and community building.

Hopefully, with increasing resources and efforts we will see more teams hire women to coach women’s soccer in the future and the number of women holding the top jobs will continue increase. 

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