Hannah Dingley: Forest Green caretaker boss becomes first woman to take charge of English Football League club

Forest Green Rovers have appointed Hannah Dingley as caretaker head coach, making her the first woman to take charge of an English Football League club.

The Gloucestershire club appointed Dingley following the departure of Duncan Ferguson.

The 51-year-old Scot was appointed in January but he was unable to keep them in League One, with Rovers winning just six of their 46 games.

Rovers have now moved to install Dingley in interim charge, making her the first woman to lead a men's professional senior team in England.

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Forest Green chairman Dale Vince said on the club website: "Hannah was the natural choice for us to be first-team interim head coach.

"She's done a fantastic job leading our academy and is well aligned with the values of the club.

"It's perhaps telling for the men's game that in making this appointment on merit, we'll break new ground - and Hannah will be the first female head coach in English [men's] football."

Dingley will continue preparations for the club's opening pre-season fixture against non-League Melksham Town on Wednesday night.

"I'm really excited for this next step of my career," she said. "Pre-season has just begun, and the full season kicks off very soon. It's an exciting time in football.

"I am grateful for the opportunity to step up and lead such a progressive and forward-thinking club."

Forest Green have previously demonstrated a desire to steer away from the conventional in their recruitment of head coaches.

In May 2021, Vince said a female coach working in the Women's Super League had been a standout candidate to become the club's new boss until it emerged her CV had been put forward without her knowledge.

Commenting about Ferguson's departure earlier on Tuesday, Vince said: "It had been a privilege to work with Dunc these last few months and this was a very difficult decision to make.

"I'm grateful to Dunc for joining us in such difficult circumstances and for all of his hard work at the club.

"But I feel this is overall the right decision for everyone and I wish Dunc well in his next coaching role. We are parting as friends. You can't ask for much more than that."

'Impact of it will be lasting'

Sky Sports' Adam Bate:

In 2019, this reporter made the trip to Nailsworth in Gloucestershire to meet Hannah Dingley, the newly-appointed academy manager of Forest Green Rovers, and to speak to chairman Dale Vince about the decision to employ her in that role.

Both were keen to downplay its wider significance.

"It was not an issue for us in the recruitment so we did not see it as something to celebrate," Vince told Sky Sports. "It was a complete non-issue. We certainly did not set out to make a statement, we just looked at the candidates. Hannah was the outstanding candidate.

"It was only after we had chosen her, someone said that she was the first appointed to that role. It tells you something about football doesn't it?"

Four years on and there can be no denying the significance as Dingley becomes the first woman to take charge of a men's senior side in the English professional game. The appointment is on an interim basis but the impact of it will be lasting.

The noises coming out of Forest Green remain the same. Dingley is the natural choice, according to Vince. Her values are aligned with the club. The obvious candidate. And yet, the appointment of a woman is apparently not obvious enough for any other club to have done it.

"I applied for other jobs and did not even get past the door," Dingley told Sky Sports that afternoon in 2019. "With a Pro Licence, having been a head of coaching, with all the academic background, I could not get an interview. You do wonder why that is."

It is why there is the potential here for first-mover advantage. Logically, any organisation willing to turn its attention to an overlooked group is able to access a higher calibre of candidate than they otherwise would. It will spark intrigue and debate.

There will be those willing her on. There will be others willing her to fail, no doubt, such is this toxic world. But Dingley's subsequent success or otherwise need not become a referendum on the capabilities of a woman coach in the men's senior game.

That is because while the media will be drawn to that first friendly against Melksham Town, whatever happens next the game has changed with this appointment. Dingley does not need to be the next Pep Guardiola to achieve that. She need only do the job.

In doing that, in showing that the world will not collapse because a woman is stood by the side of the pitch rather than a man, the Forest Green players will surely do the rest. They will play the game. They will make decisions good and bad. And it might just shift the dial.

As Dingley said that afternoon four years ago, "it is just about doing things equitably, the way they should be done".

That is a legacy to be proud of.

'A potential game-changer'

The Guardian's Sean Ingle told Sky Sports News:

"It's absolutely massive. We've seen in other sports such as the NFL having several female coaches - albeit not head coaches - and other sports have also gone down that line. But for football, it could potentially be a game-changer.

"Dingley has done the hard yards. She's got a masters degree in sports coaching from the prestigious Loughborough University, she was an academy coach at Notts County and has also been at Burton Albion. Now she's spent several years at Forest Green. It's an impressive CV and good luck to her."

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'I can see this happening more in future'

The Independent's Miguel Delaney told Sky Sports News:

"If there was any club that was going to make a move like this, it would be Forest Green. Dingley has been given the job on merit but this is also part of a wider revolution in football.

"It's a landmark moment, but it was only 20 years ago when we had a conversation about managers who hadn't been players. Jose Mourinho and Rafael Benitez changed that and now it's completely normal.

"Now, this is the latest development in the game. She's put the work in and has now been given a fair chance at a big job. I can see this happening more and more."

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