England Women manager should be appointed on merit, says Jayne Ludlow
Written by News on 27/07/2020
Jayne Ludlow believes whoever inherits the England Women’s job should do so on merit, irrespective of whether they are male or female.
The FA is yet to name a successor to Phil Neville, who stepped down in April following the SheBelieves Cup, where England won only one of their three matches.
But Wales boss Ludlow thinks that the role should go to the best person regardless of gender, providing the recruitment process is free of gender bias.
“It would be fantastic, it would be a great thing for female coaches to aspire to and to understand that there is an opportunity for them to get to that level – especially if they are an English coach,” Ludlow said.
“It would be lovely to see that a female does get that opportunity but that’s only if a female that applies is at the level that is required.
“It is not a case of giving people these jobs, they have to earn them, but it would be great to think that it is a very open contest and there are no gender biases there.”
The role is proving to be a highly coveted one with it being revealed recently that 142 candidates had applied for the chance to succeed Neville.
The FA faces a difficult decision as to whether to hire someone with a strong background in women’s football or appoint somebody with a perceived big profile as they did with Neville.
While well known thanks to a playing career with Manchester United, Everton and England, Neville was criticised for landing the position in 2018 despite a perceived lack of coaching experience.
However, Ludlow thinks the appointment will be determined by what strategy the association want to pursue.
“Obviously the number one priority, I’m guessing, is to win things, not get to semi-finals but to get finals and actually win. That’s the target for them,” Ludlow said.
“It depends on what the overarching strategy is and what you are trying to do for the game, and I’m not party to that with regards to the FA.
“It is a very different to the smaller nations like ourselves [Wales], but one that is achievable for them if they get the right person.
“That’s how I look at it, they have got a really strong, big pool of players to choose from and if they get the tactical decisions and the staff grouping around that correct, then there is no reason why they can’t have success in the future.”
‘Serena Williams-backed Angel City FC will help grow game’
Speaking on the Women’s Football Show, Ludlow also expressed excitement at news that Los Angeles-based Angel City FC had been granted an expansion place in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) from 2022.
It is an ambitious female-majority venture with a twist, though, with Hollywood A-listers, former US international Abby Wambach and Williams among those to have stakes in the club.
“It’s fantastic, hopefully other clubs around the world will do something similar,” Ludlow said.
“It’s just great to have the types of personalities involved and backing a project like that, for the female game I think it is going to be a fantastic opportunity.
“If you are a top-level player right now, I am sure that might be on your radar to go and live in that part of the world and compete at the top level too.
“It’ll be interesting to see what type of team they do end up collecting together.”
(c) Sky Sports 2020: England Women manager should be appointed on merit, says Jayne Ludlow
