French team appoint female manager

[Henry]

French second-tier outfit Clermont Foot have announced that Portuguese manager Helena Costa will take over next season. Costa, 36, will become the first female coach of a French professional club.

Announcing the appointment on Wednesday, a statement on Clermont's website confirmed that Costa – who was most recently coach of the Iran women's team – will be introduced to the media after this season's final fixtures have been completed.

"Clermont Foot 63 has chosen Helena Costa to be our new coach," read the statement.

"Helena Costa came through the ranks at Benfica before taking charge of the women's teams at Odivelas, then the national teams of Qatar and Iran, in addition to working as a scout for Celtic.

"This appointment will allow Clermont Foot 63 to begin a new era, relying on a group of 17 players currently under contract, which will be added young players from the club."

Clermont are 14th in Ligue 2 with two matches to go. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, France had Nelly Viennot as the first woman to be assistant referee in an elite match. Viennot also served as assistant referee in Champions League games.

In Germany, referee Bibiana Steinhaus officiates in second division games. She is the first woman referee in the second Bundesliga and the first to have been a referee in the German Cup.

In Spain, Maria Jose Claramunt is the director of the national team, responsible more for marketing than sporting issues.

 

 

I probably would.

[Bluto10]

If I want to read the guardians sports page dick head ill go to the guardian website

[Henry]

Ok.

[tup]

I predict this will be a short lived PR stunt.

 

Weemin CANNOT manage fitba teams.

[looksgoodinred]

probably a PR stunt as Tup notes, but i hope it turns out well. and she actually does well at it.

it would be good to see women considered for more positions in professional football.

[WA_Don]

If I want to read the guardians sports page dick head ill go to the guardian website

you really are a knob

[newcastlered]

To be a fair a woman with absolutely no knowledge of football would've been a better appointment than McGhee.

[Tord31]

Yea would have taken slightly longer to lose the dressing room than Mcghee

[dave_min]

As a result of this I would like to see Aberdeen un-twin with Clermont Ferrand.

[tightbreeks]

shnooker's, Michaela tabb is awesome, I love it when she chastises the players.

 

some pics of her make her look no bad, maybe a hint of a 'tache.

 

hope powell did well, and I think she got England to the euro or world cup final. alukos sister plays for them.

[BrianFaePerth]

She looks like a man in drag, but you can guarantee most of the team will hang about in the showers hoping she comes by.

[Ke1t]

She's in good shape, but she has a crazy, crazy look about her that just sets alarm bells ringing.

 

As for managing a football team, how difficult can it actually be if John Hughes can (sort of) do it?

[Henry]

 

Just hours after arriving to take up her post as the first female manager of a professional French men's football club, Helena Costa had resigned.

One minute she was there at Clermont Foot 63 making sporting history. The next she was gone.

France's best-selling sports newspaper, L'Équipe, described it as a "theatrical coup".

The statement from the club, based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne region in the centre of France, was brief and to the point: Costa had decided "not to honour her engagement" to the club, it read.

It had been hoped that Portuguese-born Costa would change the position of women in professional football.

She had previously worked with the youth setup at Benfica, and coached the women's national teams of Qatar and Iran, as well as scouting for the Scottish club Celtic. Her appointment as manager to the French club brought international publicity.

Costa had been due to oversee her first training session at the second division club on Tuesday morning.

It was reported that she had not seen any of the players and had not taken part in any of the players' physical testing sessions before she left.

Instead Costa's apparent walkout left everyone wondering what had gone wrong. Claude Michy, the club's owner, said the decision was "sudden and surprising" and he "deeply regretted" it.

Even before Costa's arrival in Clermont-Ferrand, critics had accused Michy of orchestrating a publicity stunt.

Costa is expected to explain at a press conference on Tuesday morning why she decided to leave the club before she had even started work there.

 

Looks like Tup was right.

 

It was probably her time of the month IMO, should see if she's in a better mood on Monday.

[The Boofon]

I predict this will be a short lived PR stunt.

Weemin CANNOT manage fitba teams.

I dinna ken like. Your ma went through the goalie, defence and midfield for Thurso FC all in one night.

[Henry]

The barmaid in my local supposedly fucked an entire football team from Caithness many moons ago.

 

To this day we don't know if it was the first XI, or if it included subs, manager etc.

[The Boofon]

The barmaid in my local supposedly fucked an entire football team from Caithness many moons ago.

 

To this day we don't know if it was the first XI, or if it included subs, manager etc.

So women can manage fitba teams then.

[Karl Fletcher]

One minute she was there at Clermont Foot 63 making sporting history. The next she was gone.

 

Ach, she probably just nipped home to make sure her straightners were switched off.

[The Boofon]

 

Ach, she probably just nipped home to make sure her straightners were switched off.

Most women I know (my wife) don't worry about stuff like that. She'd rather burn down the house than bother to switch something off.

[Henry]

I see the French team replaced this wifie with another wifie, this one is properly reeking though.

 

 

They lost their first game of the season surprisingly enough.

[Henry]

I see Striling Uni are getting in on the act now:

 

Shelley Kerr is to take charge of Lowland League club Stirling University, making her the first female manager in Scottish senior football.

The 44-year-old quit her position at Arsenal Ladies in June, having won three trophies in a 16-month reign.

"I think the management of players is different," Kerr told BBC Scotland. "I think women can sometimes be a little bit more difficult than men.

"But I see myself as a football coach, nothing to do with male or female."

Capped 59 times for Scotland, Kerr replaces Eddie May, who left to join the youth set-up at Hibernian, and will inherit a side that were runners-up last season but have lost their opening three matches this term.

Kerr, who will begin studying for a MSc in Sports Management at the university, was a player-manager at Kilmarnock, Hibernian and Spartans women's teams and had a four-year spell leading Scotland's Under-19s before Arsenal enlisted her.

"It doesn't faze me one bit," she said. "The main focus should be on the team.

"I've always had aspirations of working in the men's game and right now this seems like a really good fit for me."

 

[Bobby Connor]

What was that TV show about a woman football manager in the 90s?

 

First and last one are a yes but thon middle one that Harcus posted is a definite no.