Brentford to appoint female coach at big time for men's game

Lydia Bedford will work with Brentford until the age of 18. Credit: Getty Images

Brentford are set to appoint Lydia, the former Leicester City women's team manager. Telegraph Sport can report that Bedford as the new head coach of the boys' under-18 team, marks a significant moment for women coaching in the men's game.

Bedford will take on one of the highest managerial positions ever held by a woman at a Premier League men's club in what will be seen as a significant step forward towards inclusiveness in a male-dominated profession. No female coach has ever managed a men's professional team in England, and even at youth level, women in such coaching positions at elite men's clubs have been extremely rare.

In terms of Premier League clubs, current England women's under-17 coach Natalie Henderson previously coached at Newcastle United's men's academy and is believed to have been the first woman to be hired full-time at the Premier League academy. Below in the men's pyramid, Manisha Taylor has been coaching at QPR in several roles since 2016, and Hannah Dingley has been paving the way since 2019 as academy manager at Forest Green Rovers. But Bedford is believed to be the first woman to take charge of first-class kit for boys under 18.

She has been a UEFA Pro License since 2019 and has extensive experience with England's international women's youth teams, managing teams under 15, under 16 years old. and up to 17 years old.

Bedford spent the final three months of the 2022-23 Women's Super League season with Jonas Eidevall's backroom coaching team as assistant coach, working alongside the Swede as the north London club reached the Women's Champions League semi-finals and finished third in the WSL.

She previously managed Leicester in the women's top division for just under 12 months, avoiding relegation in 2021/22, but was sacked in November 2022 after a poor start to the season. Her replacement at the East Midlands side, Willie Kirk, oversaw Leicester's survival on the last day of the campaign last Saturday.

According to sources, Bedford informed Arsenal's women's team players of her departure in recent days and is leaving with Please accept my warmest wishes for the future.

The 35-year-old previously spent seven years at the Football Association and was the youngest Women's Super League manager at the time she took over at Leicester in 2021.

Over the course of her career, she has worked with many of the Liones' current senior squad when they were just beginning their youth development, including the likes of Manchester City's Lauren Hemp, the World Cup-bound duo and Ella from Manchester United. To one. Bedford previously started her career as a PE teacher in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 2009.

Last November, following the success of the English women who won the Euro, the FA reported that the number of women coaches working in affiliated teams in England grew by 75% compared to the same figure in 2021.