Wwhy are there not any female managers in the Premier League?
As the years go by, we are seeing a lot more calls for equality in the workplace. And those of us that follow the women’s football as well as the men’s will see how much it has grown and evolved over the years.
But it begs the question, why are there not any female managers in the Premier League?
Are women not as capable as the men? Of course, they are!
And we already have a female assistant referee who has graced the pitches in the Premier League in the form of Sian Massey-Ellis, so what is stopping the experienced female managers coming in and taking charge of the men’s game?
After all it seems that it is the norm for men to be able to manage the men’s and women’s teams, so why can’t the women do the same?
Let’s not look so far, Arsenal’s previous womens team’s manager was Joe Montemurro, a male who has gone on to manage Italian side Juventus, and our current boss Jonas Eidevall who is also a male.
So, would it really be the end of the world if the Premier League began to recruit female coachs for the men’s teams in and around the English leagues?
At the end of the day if your team is winning trophies and sitting pretty at the top of the table does it matter what gender the manager is? NO of course it doesn’t!
Because really all it comes down to is having the dressing room on side, being experienced, having a footballing brain and getting the tactics and information relayed to your players week in week out with positive results. We have had many highly-skilled players in Arsenal’s very successful Womens teams, couldn’t one of those step up?
If a person has the passion, knowledge, skills, talent and experience then it should not matter what gender they are as long as they can get the job done!
Gooners, how would you feel if we were to see more females grace the dugout in the mens game and in particular one on the touchline at the Emirates?
Shenel Osman
@sh3n3l_
Hopefully not.
Yes definitely possible. As long as whoever is in the dugout is capable and wants the best for AFC, nothing else should matter.
Yes and she could be successful too
Yes, also it might not be far too. Major issue could be a change management challenge for players maybe. But from what I know, female coaches do coach underage boys teams. The stepup might not be as difficult as expected and maybe female managers bring new ideas into the men’s game.
Rough question to answer without sounding a touch sexist in my reply .
For me because it’s a male league it should stay that where the manager is concerned as well .
That argument should also apply to the women’s league too then but our women’s coach is a man. 🙂
Thought someone would mention that Declan 😂
I would say the same as the womens league that men shouldn’t manage in that also.
Same as female refs now being introduced into the mens football.
For me it’s to tick a box that does not need to be ticked .
Also would a female manager be able to handle the abuse that would definitely come her way .
I’m not sure why you would assume it’s about quotas rather than merit. As long as those in their positions are competent, it really shouldn’t matter. There’s no reason to limit any position in football by gender.
I may be assuming Sean but aren’t you doing the same by saying it isn’t .
Find an assumption in my post and I’ll give you points 🙂 disagreeing with a point doesn’t equate to agreeing with its opposite.
It raises the question about what influence managers actually have?
It has been said that Arsene Wenger did not coach the team at all that he just just let the team play. Alex Ferguson on the pther hand was sad to be a firebrand control freak. Could any one manage a Man City or a Chelsea? I sort of think yes any one could manage any team and the managers role is larely over rated. When the whistle goes do players remember anything the manager has said? I doubt it. Players to me quickly revert to type.
So if the woman can with stand the huge sexism which exists in male sport she probably could be just as successful but may be because managers don’t really have much influence any way.
I remember back in the early 70’s when I was a young teenager, listening to a stuffy MP on Question Time (BBC political programme) suggesting that women should stay at home look after the children and their husbands. He also had the temerity to suggest that the ‘fairer’ sex wouldn’t want to box, play football or rugby, instead just carry on playing second fiddle to a man. Decades later, if you’re good enough to rise to the top of the police in London or become prime minister, then managing a male football team should be a doddle. It’s about time that people regardless of sex or race should get a job on merit. Do we ask the same questions of male coaches suitability to manage in women’s football?
They same question was raised in relation to ladies refereeing men’s matches.
I’m sure when I watched an international being refereed by a lady the other night, there seemed to be a lot more respect being afforded to her and (probably through gritted teeth) her decisions.
Great article Shenel, it’s a very interesting question. The answer is yes, since we have seen how it works at the offices and in the army
I don’t think it’s going to be as effective as the male managers though, due to the physical contact boundaries
However, I don’t think it will happen in the near future, because of the current level of women’s football competitions and the experience of the female managers
Why not. As the saying goes”What a man can do, a woman can do better”
I’d love to see more women coaching women’s teams too. Every game I see seems to have male managers on boths sides of the dugout.
Anyway, these things will evolve naturally. It’s great to see most of the comments supporting a greater presence of women in football which in itself shows how much progress we’ve made as a species.
Great article.
If it’s a natural progression where the best candidate is selected as manager, then it’s best for all.
If it’s forced due to an ideological agenda, than no.
The only thing I hope never to see is a combination of men and women together in the same squad.
With the way the world is rapidly changing it will get to that. But by then I would be long gone(not in the next 200 years hopefully)
I’m sure it will happen and I’m sure there will be women who are more than capable of doing a great job.
It’s not a question I really enjoy talking about though because everything seems so forced at the moment.
Rachel Yankey…
One day, hopefully 🙏🏿
My reason for firmly suporting female refs in mens football as well as assistant refs (aka linos, which is what most actually are, as they do not, in general REALLY assist the ref in a meaningful way), is a far more fundamental principle.
All my long adult life I have told all and sundry and all my friends, family (and have also extensively lectured on my contention) that FEMALES are , in general and IN GENERAL only, the far superior sex in all the things in life that really matter.
Women are not burdened by the harmful excess of too much testosterone, which controls and frustrates so many mens attempts to behave better than they ultimately do.
Male aggressiveness and pride , stubbornness and other harmful character traits are common throughout our globe. You need look no further than all the regulars in this site to see the truth of my contention. I very much include myself as a damaged male in this inferior male club to which approx half our race belong and suffer at our own hands.
I freely accept that in physical power, muscle mess and the like, men are, again in general, superior*** to women and that is one obvious reason why mens football is faster, more exciting and more popular throughout the globe.
But it also explains why there are far more arguments fights and violence both in word and deed. No sensible person can rationally deny this fact. And it is a fact, though again only in general.
All this being said, it is the RELATIVE emancipation of women, at least in the free and “civilised” part of our globe that has so progressed the civilisation of mankind in recent decades.
Look no further than the TALIBAN, male of course, to see how harmful Neanderthal MALE attitudes are to our common human evolvement, at least in those retrograde parts of the world.
I could and( frequently have) written far more on this theme but I accept that most males are discomfitted to read home truths about our sex, esp when coming from a another male.
So , to return to the articles question, I WOULD FIRMLY WELCOME as many female refs and all other non playing female involvement in the mens game as we can possibly get . That includes managers and coaches too. OH, AND VERY MUCH OWNERS!!
IMO it would help immensely in the vital task of neutering the over harmful affects of our excess of harmful testosterone ON OUR MALE MINDS, though perhaps not always directly on our bodies.
PS *** the word”superior” assumes that physical power is superior to having less physical power And THAT is a very deep discussion indeed, which on a mere football site I will not venture to explore further.
I neglected, and shamefully so, to congratulate Shenel on a most interesting and well informed article. More in this vein please Shenel!
Why not?
it shouldn’t matter one iota, but it still does, for now anyways…as a strong proponent of a meritocracy, gender shouldn’t even enter the equation, albeit it would be unrealistic to suggest that it wouldn’t require a period of adjustment, even if only from a visceral capacity
Then Arsenal will be more of a laboratory for control experiments rather than a standard Football club
I think it’s still a decade or so of at the higher levels, but one day. Men’s and women’s football are still a distance apart, although already more alike than even five years ago.
There is a gap regarding training for greater physical contact and aggression, speed and skill to be bridged if coming from women’s football management before you even consider such things as half time in the dressing room, industrial language and personal abuse, none of which are insurmountable issues.
There is a far smaller talent pool to choose from and female, like male managers, should prove themselves in lower leagues and climb the ladder. I do feel though that soft skills eg communication skills, clear headedness and lack of ego or bias are often more prevalent in women and would be major assets.
The two things I would hate to happen are
1) any form of positive descrimination designed to speed the process up – this has not happened for BAME male managers, neither should it for women.
2) major football culture and rule changes to cater solely for the possibility of women managers. We like our game the way it is!
If She has got the brains why not? Just give her the chance