Football: first female head coach in men’s game lasts two weeks
Baku, July 18, AZERTAC
Forest Green Rovers coach Hannah Dingley’s spell as the first woman to manage a men’s professional football team in England will come to an end this week after the fourth-tier club appointed David Horseman as their new head coach, according to TVP World.
Dingley, who has a UEFA Pro License, was appointed as caretaker head coach earlier this month following Duncan Ferguson’s exit. She was also the only woman to manage a club academy in the English men’s league.
Horseman arrives from Southampton, where he coached the south-coast club’s B team, but Dingley will remain in charge when they take on Coventry City and the Everton Under-21 teams in friendly matches this week.
“I’m grateful to Hannah for holding the fort for the club while we went through the complete recruitment process,” Forest Green owner Dale Vince said.
“Although she did not get the top job this time, it’s undoubtedly been a valuable experience and a big step on her career path.”
Dale Vince became a major shareholder and later chairman of Forest Green Rovers in 2010. The following year, Rovers players were banned from eating red meat, and the sale of all meat products was banned at the club’s ground. In 2015, he made Forest Green the world’s first all-vegan football club.
In 2021, the United Nations recognized Forest Green Rovers as the world’s first carbon-neutral football club.
He has spoken of a desire to enter politics and has endorsed and donated to British left-wing parties, including Labour and the Green Party.
Some sporting observers have commented that Vince’s appointment of Hannah Dingley was simply a virtue signalling publicity stunt, and that she never had a realistic chance of getting the job full time.
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