Hannah Dingley
Personal information
Date of birth (1983-07-19) 19 July 1983[1]
Place of birth St. Albans, England
Managerial career
Years Team
2019– Forest Green Rovers academy
2023 Forest Green Rovers (caretaker)

Hannah Dingley (born 19 July 1983) is a Welsh football coach who is the academy manager of EFL League Two club Forest Green Rovers.

As of September 2023, she was the first and is the only woman to have been in charge of a professional men's team in English football. Dingley holds a UEFA Pro Licence.[2]

Early life and education

Born in St. Albans, Dingley was raised in Carmarthenshire, Wales, moving there at the age of four as her parents were from the area.[3] As a youth, football was her passion and a "strong part of her family culture". As her school did not have a girls' team, she played for the local boys' club.[4] She began coaching men's teams at aged 17.[3] She attended Loughborough University and coached teams there, including boys' university teams and men’s non-league football.[4] She also undertook work experience at Swansea City.[3]

Dingley earned a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Sport and Exercise Science and Masters of Science (MSc) in Coaching from Loughborough.[5] In a work experience role with Swansea City, Dingley would observe manager Jan Mølby training the team and during match days. This experience strengthened Dingley's desire to work in a managerial role in football.[6]

Career

It frustrates me that female coaches might think the female game might be their only opportunity in the game. There are lots of opportunities in the men’s game, academy football is massive. I was told I got the job because I was the best person for it.

— Hannah Dingley[7]

Dingley worked as a course leader at Loughborough College in Sport & Exercise Science [5] at the University of Wolverhampton in Sports Coaching Practice.[4]

Dingley began her professional coaching career in 2011 with the Notts County under-9 boys team and Lincoln Ladies though eventually she was told she could only work for one of them so chose to work exclusively with the ladies team as they had international players playing for them.[7]

In 2013 while working as a coach for Gresley, Dingley was subjected to verbal abuse by Northwich Victoria manager, Lee Ashcroft resulting in Ashcroft receiving a 10 match ban for using abusive and/or insulting words.[8] She also worked at Shepshed Dynamo and Leicester Nirvana.[3]

In 2013, she joined Burton Albion as an academy coach.[1] From 2016–19, she was a coach for their senior men's team.[9][10]

In 2019, Dingley was hired as an academy manager at Forest Green Rovers, making her the first woman to coach a men's academy team in England.[10][9][11] In 2021, she launched a girls' academy for Forest Green.[6]

On 4 July 2023, she was appointed caretaker manager of Forest Green following the sacking of Duncan Ferguson.[12] This move made Dingley the first woman to take charge of a men's senior English professional football team.[13] Of the new role, Dingley said, "I've coached men for 20-odd years. This isn't different to me and I've never had a problem with players. They just want good coaching and a good programme."[14] Forest Green owner Dale Vince noted, "It was a very simple decision. Hannah was the most qualified person at the club for the job. Nothing else came into frame."[14]

She left her role as Rovers' caretaker manager on 17 July 2023, being replaced on a permanent basis by David Horseman.[15] She returned to her role as the head of the academy.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 "Hannah Dingley: Forest Green appoint first woman to run men's English football academy". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  2. ↑ "Hannah Dingley Becomes First Female Manager In English Football League History". Sports Illustrated. 4 July 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Dingley enjoying journey after moment of history" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  4. 1 2 3 "Welsh manager Hannah Dingley makes history as first woman to take charge of a pro men's team in English football". Wales Online. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Alumna Hannah Dingley named first female manager of men's professional football team". Loughborough University. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  6. 1 2 Wilkes, Louise (5 July 2023). "Meet the first female boss of an English men's professional football team". mirror.
  7. 1 2 Froston, Nancy (5 July 2023). "Hannah Dingley: From university lecturer to Forest Green's new manager". The Athletic. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  8. ↑ "Boss banned for abusing female coach". BBC Sport. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  9. 1 2 Gillen, Nancy (20 October 2021). "Hannah Dingley on female football coaching: 'I'd be mistaken for a physio or medic'". GiveMeSport.
  10. 1 2 "The coach blazing a trail for women in football". BBC Sport. 27 March 2023.
  11. ↑ "Forest Green Rovers' Hannah Dingley - the first female academy boss| All Football". AllfootballOfficial.
  12. ↑ "Dingley named Caretaker Head Coach". www.fgr.co.uk. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  13. ↑ "Hannah Dingley: Forest Green Rovers caretaker boss becomes first woman to take charge of senior professional men's team in England". Sky Sports. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  14. 1 2 "Hannah Dingley: Female football boss hopes to inspire young girls to break through glass ceilings". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  15. ↑ "Hannah Dingley's spell as interim head coach at Forest Green to end as David Horseman hired to replace Duncan Ferguson". Sky Sports.
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