When are we going to see the first woman head coach in the men's top five European leagues?

In recent years, we have seen small examples of women occupying spaces traditionally reserved for men, both in sports and generally. 

These steps in professional football have been taken by coaches such as Marie-Louise Eta, who made history after becoming the first women to take charge of a men’s team in a Bundesliga fixture with Union Berlin in January.

Hannah Dingley became the first woman to manage an English professional team when she took caretaker charge of League Two side Forest Green Rovers in July 2023. While Lydia Bedford is in place as Premier League side Brentford’s U18 manager. 

And they are small steps because, in football, we have yet to see a woman head coach of a team in any of the top five European leagues in the men's game.

Although there has been an element of progress, the moment for a systemic breakthrough is yet to surface.

Firstly, it is very important to make it clear that a woman's success should not be measured by her ability to enter male-dominated fields.  

However, seeing a woman take up these spaces that have been denied to her is a key step towards achieving gender equity in the game.  

It is about starting to look at people based on their talent and preparation, without considering their gender.   

Some women coaches have had successful careers in women's football already, such as Emma Hayes with Chelsea, six times winner of the FA Women's Super League, five times winner of the Women's FA Cup, winner of The Best award and a finalist in the Champions League (2021). 

Or Sarina Wiegman, the current England and former Netherlands coach, twice World Cup finalist and twice Women's Euro champion with two different national teams. 

They provide an example to illustrate how necessary it is to open opportunities to talented coaches to enter the club and category they choose whether it be women's or men's.   

If that is in the men's game, it comes with the bonus of being able to influence on a larger scale through a sport that, at this point in history, is more popular and therefore attracts a wider audience. 

Seeing women as leaders and in positions of power helps to break down institutional and societal biases. 

It normalises seeing more figures with responsibility and power in women, which will help open the space up for it happening in other industries as well. 

Progress on the bench will eventually be reflected in women's participation, representation, leadership and governance in the game.     

When changes like this become regular, they go from being the exception, an example of individual effort and determination, to a natural course of an individual's career within a system that has changed.      

Opening doors and giving opportunities to many more people also means cultivating more talent, enriching the knowledge and stories within the beautiful game and, therefore, developing new ways of understanding football.

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