Forest Green Rovers, a League Two (fourth division) club from England, have appointed Hannah Dingley as their interim coach in a historic event for the sport, as it is the first time a woman has led a professional men’s team. from the British country.
The Welsh strategist took the reins of the team with immediate effect and, for now, will be in charge of the preseason. Dingley will make his debut on the Rovers bench this Wednesday in a friendly against Melksham Town visiting the infiLED Arena.
“I am very excited about this next step in my career. Pre-season has just started and the season will start very soon, it is an exciting time in football. I am grateful for the opportunity to take this step and lead such a progressive club with vision of the future”, said the coach after her appointment.
Dingley has a Masters in Sports Coaching from Loughborough University, a UEFA Pro license and previous experience working in the academies of other English clubs such as Notts County and Burton Albion. She came to the Green Devils four years ago to direct the team’s academy, a position she currently holds, and which still makes her to this day the only woman to direct the youth academy of an English club.
According to English sports media, Dingley does not like to be the center of attention, but she herself has made it clear that she knows the responsibility that comes with opening these doors for women in a profession that has been so closed to taking that step.
In March this year, she gave an interview to the BBC’s Points West program and said that “The fact that I do this I hope it encourages more women to enter the world of coaching, football, different roles. I feel a great responsibility to talk about it,” he said.
In addition, in that same interview, she herself predicted what she is experiencing now, when she commented on the possibility of a woman taking command of a male professional team. “I think she will arrive sooner than you think” was the forceful phrase that now made her a prophet.
“Hannah was the natural choice to be the first team interim. She has done a fantastic job leading our academy and is aligned with the club’s values,” said team president Dale Vince. In addition, the leader also spoke about the message that this decision sends to the world of football. “Perhaps it is revealing for men’s soccer that by making this merit appointment we will break new ground,” he said.
And it is that if a step as historic as this was to happen, it is not surprising that it was hand in hand with Forest Green Rovers. Vince himself had said in 2021 that the team was about to appoint a Women’s Super League coach as their new strategist, but that the possibility fell through when they learned that her resume had been sent without her knowledge.
The Nailsworth team has been characterized as a progressive club and leader in environmental issues, recognized as the greenest club in England and “the most sustainable in the world” according to FIFA. Even last June, Real Betis and its Foundation recognized it as a sustainable Sports Club.
Sportingly, success has not accompanied this revolutionary team, since the previous season they were relegated from the third to the fourth English division. Now they are looking to get promoted again and their path begins on August 5 against Salford City. It will be waiting to see if Dingley will be on the bench that day.
Seeing women in charge of men’s teams is a pending issue in the world of football, since few have reached the bench. In Spain, Laura del Río was the first to lead a men’s group, when in 2019 she took the reins of Flat Earth in the third category.
In Catalonia, Luri Sorroche has made his way in the territorial categories. He first did it at Moja de Tercera Catalana, with whom he achieved promotion to Segunda, then he went through Sitges and last year he signed for Vilanova, from Primera Catalana, although he is no longer in charge.
At the international level, the name of Chan Yuen Ting stands out, the first coach to win a title at the helm of a professional men’s club, when in 2016 she was crowned in the Hong-Kong league with Eastern SC. She was also the first woman to coach in a men’s continental tournament, the Asian Champions League.
There is also the case of Salma Al-Majidi, who became the first woman to coach a men’s team in an Arab country. In France there were also two cases, those of Helena Costa and Corinne Diacre who led Clermont in the second category.
Little by little, women have made their way into a world that has not made it easy for them to enter, and that still looks askance at seeing them directing men at a professional level. At least, for now, these small steps are trying to grow to normalize the arrival of more women on the benches.
