FA WSL: Liverpool Ladies' Becky Easton could trade boot room for boardroom

Ex-Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann and former England cricket coach Ashley Giles are aiding Becky Easton’s quest for a decision-making role in football when she hangs up her boots.

The veteran Liverpool Ladies defender is under contract with the reigning FA WSL 1 champions for another season but has recently started a master’s degree in sports directorship.

Lehmann and Giles are part of the cohort of 25 students undertaking the postgraduate degree and Easton is proud to be the only female on the course.

“I don’t want to go into coaching which is the normal route for players because it’s not for me but I want to stay involved in the game,” Easton told Sky Sports.

“So I’m doing this brand new master’s degree in sports directorship which started in September and was founded by Joe Royle’s son Darren and ex-pro Tony Faulkner.

“A lot of it is self-directed but the content is absolutely fascinating and there are some really impressive people on the course.

“Ashley Giles who just got the cricket director’s job at Lancashire is on it as well as the coach of Kenya’s Sevens rugby side.

“Jens Lehmann is also in my group, David Moyes’ number two at United Steve Round and England U19s manager Sean O’Driscoll are also doing the course so there are some great names on it from cricket, rugby and football.

“I’m going to learn so much from it in terms of knowledge and skills as well as from talking to my peers.

“I’m proud to be the only female on the course. I was a bit nervous on the first day but they’ve all been great with me. It’s quite nice being the only female and it’s nice to represent women’s football as well.”

Shortage

Easton acknowledges there is a shortage of women in senior roles in football and hopes she can follow in the footsteps of FIFA Exco member and former Australia international Moya Dodd.

“It’s about time there were more females involved in senior positions in football,” she said.

“I spoke to Moya Dodd about it when she was over here recently. She’s a Liverpool fan and a great character who pushes women’s football and we need more people like that.

“That’s why this is a great opportunity for me. I’m still concentrating on playing at the moment but when I finish, hopefully this qualification will lead me into an interesting position.”

Easton added: “I think women have a lot to offer. I was speaking to Natalie Wignall who is on our board and she said that females from the women’s game have got so much to give because we have a different perspective on football.

“In the men’s game players have always been taken care of but we can give a different insight because we’ve come from nothing and we’ve had to fight for everything.”