Bev Priestman named head coach of Ninja A-League side Wellington Phoenix
Durham-born Priestman is no stranger to New Zealand. Sixteen years ago, she headed up coach development in Wellington. She then went on to become New Zealand Football's director of football development.
'Coming back to New Zealand and seeing the Phoenix week in week out as the only professional women's team has been amazing,' she said following her announcement.
Priestman spent stints with the Canadian U17s and U20s, before she was appointed as England assistant manager in 2018. She was part of Phil Neville's coaching staff that reached the 2019 World Cup semi-finals in France.
Bev Priestman returns to coaching
In 2020, Priestman returned to Canada — this time as head coach of the senior national team. She led them to Olympic gold in Tokyo before a disappointing group stage exit at the 2023 World Cup.
Her time in charge of the Canadians ended in a shroud of controversy last summer. Priestman, assistant manager Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi were all dismissed in the wake of the 'spying' scandal when members of the backroom staff were caught flying a drone over — ironically — a New Zealand training session before their match in the Paris Olympics.
Priestman was subsequently handed a one-year ban from all football related activities.
Embed from Getty Images
Phoenix chair, Rob Morrison was bullish on the appointment of their new manager and broader investment into the 'Nix women's side: 'This is a step up in an exciting era for the Phoenix women's team. Along with our significant ongoing investment in the women's academy programme, we have doubled our investment in the women's first team and this has resulted in us being able to recruit some great international players.'
The international players Morrison is referring to include Teseel Middag and Lucía León, as well as bringing Football Ferns Victoria Esson and CJ Bott back to New Zealand from stints in Scotland and England respectively.
The upcoming A-League season may just be the most intriguing one yet for the side from across The Tasman.
Related articles from Her Football Hub:
The importance of educational football and why we should be helping it grow
Alessia Russo mural unveiled at grassroots club Bearsted FC after England Euro 2025 triumph
WAFCON 2024: Nigeria complete comeback vs Morocco to secure 10th title
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Rampant Red Roses make World Cup statement with warm-up thrashing of France
England ran in six tries as they completed their preparations for the Women's Rugby World Cup with a 40-6 win over France. The Red Roses, who kick off their campaign against the United States at Sunderland's Stadium of Light on Friday 22 August, were made to work hard for a 27th successive victory in Mont-de-Marsan by a French side missing first-choice scrum-half Pauline Bourdon Sansus through suspension. England's forward power proved irresistible during the first half as they established a commanding lead, but having seen France all but reel them in before holding on to win their Six Nations grand slam decider in April 43-42, they headed for the dressing room taking nothing for granted. Sadia Kabeya provided the finishing touch to a fourth-minute rolling maul after second row partner Abbie Ward had secured possession at an early line-out, and hooker Amy Cockayne repeated the dose at the end of a powerful 15th-minute drive with Zoe Harrison adding the conversion. Handling errors and imprecision cost John Mitchell's side further tries as the French conceded a series of penalties which eventually saw lock forward Manae Feleu yellow-carded, and although Morgane Bourgeois reduced the deficit with a penalty in her absence, prop Maud Muir touched down from another rolling maul and Harrison added the extras to make it 19-3 at the break. Bourgeois kicked a second penalty to capitalise on Teani Feleu's rampaging early break as the second half got under way, but scrum-half Natasha Hunt's quick thinking after her pack had forced a scrum penalty sent centre Meg Jones over and Harrison obliged once again. France started to throw the ball around, with half-backs Carla Arbez and Alexandra Chambon both making dangerous breaks and as the England scrum came under pressure, the visitors were starved of meaningful possession. But catch and drive did the trick once again with six minutes remaining for replacement hooker Lark Atkin-Davies to go over, and she added a second three minutes later to allow Harrison to take her tally to 10 points with two more successful kicks. PA
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Mike Dodds on Wycombe's form, defending and style after sixth loss in seven games
Despite starting the new league season with two defeats from two, Wycombe Wanderers head coach Mike Dodds is 'super confident' his side will 'improve' as the season goes on. His comments came after the Chairboys lost 2-1 at home to Stockport County on August 9, a week after they were defeated by the same scoreline to newly-promoted Bradford City. Kyle Wootton put the Hatters one up at Adams Park with a tidy first-time finish on nine minutes, before Jack Diamond's brilliant bending effort doubled their lead early into the second half. A forward pass by Wanderers debutant Connor Taylor was intercepted by Owen Moxon, who found Diamond, who ran the length of the pitch to score his first of the season, and his first in any capacity since April. However, whilst the goal was well taken, it was poorly defended from a Wycombe perspective as no player got near the ex-Sunderland man, who had free rein to burst forward and score. Alex Lowry's missed penalty for the Chairboys moments later rubbed salt into Wanderers' wound, before the Scotsman assisted Jamie Mullins for his first Chairboys goal to make it 2-1 with 15 minutes left. The result means Dodds' team have not won in seven, losing six times, but he is insisting things will 'improve'. On the second goal, he said: 'We want to get onto the ball. 'If you look at the back end of the second half, the reason why we did so well is because we added more pressure. 'I want to make it clear to everyone who is associated with this football club, I am not telling the players not to get to the ball. 'That is something we still need to work on, and when we do it, we do it properly and effectively. 'When you give teams at this level two goal head starts, it is going to be a difficult afternoon.' On the form, he added: 'We will improve, and I'm super confident around that. 'The style is not changing, and some of the bits of play were outstanding, and I was happy at times when they tried to press us high, and we found solutions to get out. 'What we need to try and do is have that second half display replicate that with more consistency.' Up next is Leyton Orient in the first round of the League Cup on Tuesday evening.
Washington Post
2 hours ago
- Washington Post
Olympian Asher Hong rolls to second national title at the U.S. gymnastics championships
NEW ORLEANS — Asher Hong cruised to his second national title in men's gymnastics on Saturday, pulling away from the field for an easy victory at the U.S. Championships. The 21-year-old Hong, part of the five-man team that earned bronze at the Paris Olympics last summer, posted a two-day total of 170.020 to win easily despite a rare miscue on the high bar during the first rotation on Saturday.
