Forest Green Rovers has made history, becoming the first English Football League (EFL) side to appoint a woman as head coach.
Hannah Dingley, the club’s academy manager, has been appointed interim head coach for Rovers’ senior team in League Two.
“I’ve coached men for 20-odd years. This isn’t different to me and I’ve never had a problem with players,” Dingley told the BBC. “They just want good coaching and a good program.”
“Hannah was the natural choice to be first-team interim head coach,” added club chairman Dale Vince in a team press release. “She’s done a fantastic job leading our academy and is well aligned with the values of the club.”
Dingley joined Forest Green in 2019 as an academy manager, making her the first woman to hold that role in English soccer.
“It was a very simple decision,” said Vince. “Hannah was the most qualified person at the club for the job. Nothing else came into frame… It’s incidental to the football decision that we have made.”
Vince said that the search for a full-time head coach could take weeks, and said that Dingley is “very welcome” to apply for the role.
Dingley had previously spent years as the head of academy coaching at non-league Burton Albion, making the step into the EFL’s professional ranks with Forest Green in 2019. She took her new role after the club dismissed former boss Duncan Ferguson following their relegation from League One after the 2022-23 season.
Dingley got her UEFA Pro license in 2019 and, following a preseason draw with Melksham Town, told the BBC that she doesn’t want to be the only woman entrusted with first-team duties.
“It’s the first and it’s great, but I don’t want to be the first and only,” said Dingley. “It’s slightly disappointing as the first female academy manager I’m still the only female academy manager. If we want change to happen we need more females in these positions throughout clubs.”
Dingley joins Diacre among others
While Dingley’s appointment is a first for English professional soccer, she’s not the only woman to take over a men’s professional club. From 2014-17, French side Clermont Foot (then in Ligue 2) had two women head coaches, with Helena Costa having a brief, unhappy spell before being replaced by Corinne Diacre. Diacre guided the club to three mid-table finishes before accepting the France women’s national team job.
In Hong Kong, Chan Yuen-Ting took charge of Eastern Sports Club, leading her side to the 2015-16 Hong Kong Premier League title and a place in the 2017 Asian Football Confederation Champions League. Despite being completely overmatched against big clubs from Japan, Korea, and China, Eastern produced a stunning 1-1 draw against Kawasaki Frontale.
While U.S. clubs have not taken that step, the University of Chicago won the 2022 NCAA Division III national championship with former Chicago Red Stars defender Julianne Sitch as their head coach.
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