Former Leicester Women’s manager Lydia Bedford has been appointed head coach of Brentford Men’s Under-18s.
Bedford had been assistant manager to Jonas Eidevall at Arsenal Women, who confirmed on Thursday that he was leaving the club to join Brentford in a historic moment for the women’s game.
He will work alongside Jon-Paul Pittman, who will join as assistant manager at Forest Green Rovers.
“[We’re] We are very pleased to have managed to attract such talented coaches as Lydia and Jon-Paul to our U18 squad for next year,” Brentford’s director of football Phil Giles said in a statement.
“We undertook an extensive recruitment process for these roles. Lydia and Jon-Paul were the two top candidates. I’m sure they will excel, and we all look forward to working with them in the pre-season and beyond.”
Bedford will hold one of the most senior coaching roles ever held by a woman at a Men’s Premier League club. No female coach has ever managed a professional men’s team in England.
The 35-year-old started coaching in 2008 and obtained her UEFA professional license in 2019 after managing England women’s teams at U15, U16 and U17 levels.
Bedford managed Leicester in the Women’s Super League for just under 12 months, becoming the league’s youngest boss at the time of his appointment in 2021. He avoided relegation in 2021-22 but was sacked last November after a difficult start to the season.
Brentford’s under-18s compete in the South East Youth Alliance League and will formally move on-site to the Robert Rowan Performance Centre, the club’s main training facility, from the 2023/24 season.
