Hannah Dingley will become the first woman to take charge of a men’s senior side – although in an interim basis for now – after she was appointed caretaker manager of Forest Green Rovers.
Dingley is already the head of academy at the League Two club and took training with the first team on Tuesday after the departure of Duncan Ferguson.
She is expected to be in charge on Wednesday night when Forest Green play non-league side Melksham Town in their first friendly.
The 39-year-old will remain at the helm while the club’s owner Dale Vince searches for a new permanent manager to replace Ferguson after the Scot’s poor spell in charge.
The Everton hero was appointed manager in January and won just one of his 18 games in charge as Forest Green were relegated from League One.
Dingley said: ‘I’m really excited for this next step of my career. Pre-season has just begun and the full season kicks off very soon. It’s an exciting time in football. I am grateful for the opportunity to step up and to lead such a progressive and forward-thinking club.’
Forest Green chairman Dale Vince said: ‘Hannah was the natural choice to be first-team interim Head Coach – she’s done a fantastic job leading our Academy and is well aligned with the values of the club.
‘It’s perhaps telling for the men’s game that in making this appointment on merit, we’ll break new ground – and Hannah will be the first female Head Coach in English (men’s) football.’
Dingley told the BBC earlier this year that she expected a woman to be in charge of a men’s team in the near future, saying: ‘It will come in sooner than you think.
‘The success that the Lionesses are having, that Emma Hayes is having at Chelsea. There are others, really good female coaches out there who I have more than faith in would be more than capable of coaching at a men’s level.
‘They’re players at the end of the day. It’s football at the end of the day, that doesn’t change. I don’t think it’ll be long before you see a female on the touchline.’
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