theconversation.com Published: March 8, 2021

Author Pete HolmesSenior Lecturer in Sport Coaching, Nottingham Trent University

As the 2020 American NFL season drew to a close with Tom Brady winning his record seventh Super Bowl, it was interesting to note another sporting first: the three women involved in the game – two coaches and one official.

With eight women currently coaching in the NFL, there’s still a long way to go when it comes to parity, but it does seem that women are finally breaking into elite men’s sports coaching in the US.

Sadly, the same cannot be said about most major team sports in the UK. Many elite sports, including rugby and cricket have a poor record in this regard. But perhaps the most high profile sport yet to embrace female coaches is professional football (soccer).

One contributing factor may be that when experienced top flight female coaches are linked to men’s football, the expectation seems to be that they should start at the bottom. Consider the case of Emma Hayes, the manager of Chelsea – the reigning Women’s Super League champions. Despite this leading position, Hayes was recently linked with the vacant manager’s job at the men’s side AFC Wimbledon – a team which is currently struggling to clear the relegation zone of the third tier of English football in League One.

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