UK’s first female senior football manager

THE University of Stirling has made football history by appointing Shelley Kerr as the first female manager in British men’s senior football.

French Ligue 2 club, Clermont Foot 63 set the tone earlier this year when they appointed Portuguese woman’s football coach Helena Costa, only to watch her walk away, claiming that her appointment had been tokenism and publicity seeking, only for Clermont Foot to appoint former French international player Corinne Diacre as her successor. Diacre has been in charge for five games and has a Lost 2, Won 1, Drawn 1 record so far.

Kerr is one of the UK’s highest qualified and experienced female coaches. The 59-times capped Scottish internationalist will lead the continued development of the men’s football club, and carry out head coaching duties for the football scholarship programme at Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence. She will also begin studying for an MSc in Sports Management at the University next month.

With the University’s 1st XI now playing in the Scottish Lowland League, effectively the fifth tier of Scottish senior football, Kerr becomes the first female in the UK to manage a senior men’s team.

One of only four women in the UK to hold the acclaimed UEFA Pro-Licence Award, Kerr previously managed Arsenal Ladies in the English Women’s Premier League, leading them into the European Champions League, as well as gaining FA Cup success.

Kerr is delighted with the new appointment and her first leading position in the men’s game. She said: “I am extremely excited to be given this opportunity to lead the men’s performance programme at Stirling.

“I am looking forward to transferring my knowledge and experience as an international player and coach – to develop further the players and the programme at Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence.”

The programme has helped bring competitive success to the University, with the 1st XI winning the British Universities’ Premier League (North), the British Universities’ Championship and the Scottish Lowland League Cup last term.

A second-place finish in the inaugural Scottish Lowland League gained the students entry into this season’s Scottish FA Cup.