Brentford have appointed Lydia Bedford as the head coach of their men’s under-18s side.
In a major step for women’s coaching in the men’s game, Bedford leaves a role on Jonas Eidevall’s Arsenal Women’s staff to take up a key position in Brentford’s setup.
Bedford was England Women’s youth team head coach until she took charge of Leicester City Women in November 2021.
She helped Leicester avoid relegation from the Women’s Super League in 2021-22, but was replaced by Willie Kirk the following season after starting with six straight defeats.
Bedford joined Arsenal in February as an assistant to Eidevall, but will leave after only three months to take up her new role at Brentford. Bedford is one of only a handful of female coaches to hold a role in the men’s setup at English clubs. In the Premier League, Jill Scott, the former England midfielder, recently took up a coaching position at Manchester City’s academy.
Bedford completed her UEFA Pro Licence in 2019 alongside Justin Cochrane and Kevin O’Connor. Cochrane worked for the Football Association at the time, but joined Brentford last summer as their head of coaching.
O’Connor spent his entire playing career with the club before becoming the B Team’s head coach in 2016. He has been a first-team assistant to…
