Brentford have appointed former Leicester City Women’s manager Lydia Bedford as the club’s new under-18 head coach in a ground-breaking moment for the men’s game.
Bedford looks set to become the first woman to occupy a coaching position for a professional team at a Premier League club, although this is yet to be verified.
The 35-year-old has left Arsenal Women’s first-team coaching staff to take the role, after being part of Jonas Eidevall’s coaching staff for the last three months.
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She will be assisted by Jon-Paul Pittman, who arrives from Forest Green Rovers.
“We undertook an extensive recruitment process for these roles. Lydia and Jon-Paul were the two best candidates, and thankfully we were able to finalise their recruitment to the staff. I’m sure they will excel, and we all look forward to working with them through pre-season and beyond.”
Bedford had a previous spell in charge of Leicester Women in November 2021 and guided the Foxes to Women’s Super League safety.
However, she was dismissed after a poor start to the following campaign and was replaced by Willie Kirk. Bedford has also spent time coaching England Women’s sides at under-15, under-16 and under-17 level.
Former Lioness Jill Scott currently works within Manchester City’s academy, while Hannah Dingley is the academy manager at Forest Green Rovers.
Brentford’s under-18 team was founded at the start of the 2022/23 season after the Bees were granted Category Four status under the Premier League’s Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP).
The junior Bees side competes in the South East Youth Alliance League and compete alongside clubs including Leyton Orient, Southend and Cheltenham.
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