Gemma Grainger, Marieanne Spacey-Cale and Faye White recently held a discussion on reasons for managerial gender gap. In their discussion the powerful panel suggested what needs to be done to change the landscape.
Having more male coaches in the dugout for the women’s game only presents pertinent question : where are all the female head coaches in women’s football?
Recently Arsenal Women manager Jonas Eidevall waded into the debate andsaid: “You can have female Prime Ministers, but you can’t have a female coach coaching in the Premier League for some reason? Why?”
With only a third of managers in the Women’s Super League being female, and six of the 12 managers in the league below in the Championship, Grainger, Spacey-Cale and White provided some insight into the matter.
“I think it’s a reflection of the women’s game and its journey to professionalism and the journey that we’re on as a whole,” Wales Women’s manager Gemma Grainger told told Sky Sports.
“There’s naturally more male coaches. The men’s game has been professional for much longer and we see that transfer of male coaches into the women’s game, and that’s the state we’re at in this moment,” she continued.
“We have to accept that we’re slightly behind in terms of female coaches in the game because the development of the game on the pitch has been crucial to make the game and the profile of the game grow,” English former international footballer Marieanne Spacey-Cale said.
Spacey-Cale added, “The next stepping stone will be to increase the number of female coaches working in the game. We can look at the numbers in the WSL and Championship, but if you drop down and look at the number of women coaching at grassroots level and in tier three and four, there’s a base there now.”
“It means we can try and talent spot and identify who are the coaches working towards their next level of qualifications in an environment that they’re learning and developing – they’re the coaches coming through in the future,” Spacey-Cale continued.
Spacey-Cale added: “There are women now coaching in boys’ academies which hadn’t happened before, which goes to show the development of the coaches is happening. Those coaches have more of a choice about where they want to coach, who they want to coach and who with.
“What’s important is that opportunities are more readily available to apply for coaching jobs that they feel they can be the very best for and get it.”
Former England and Arsenal captain Faye White told Sky Sports, “We don’t want to keep losing the top players. We need to look at ways to keep them but it’s got to come from the drive of that individual. You’ve got to want to make those continuous sacrifices and have that type of lifestyle.”
Grainger echoes White’s view that players need to have that dedication for coaching. “One of the great things the FAW are doing in conjunction with the WSL is identify those players who have that passion, help them become qualified and ultimately the coaching system will help them be better players as well.”
“There’s that real link for players to see that their coaching badges will help them understand the game more. At some WSL clubs, they have some of our players working with the academy teams, so there are opportunities to get the coaching hours,” she said.
“Being a coach is completely different to being a player. Some of the players who I’ve spoken to ask about the hours that it takes and the dedication.”
The discussion on reasons for managerial gender gap has led to most influential figures in the women’s game to suggest more work be done to ensure women coaches get involved.
