When the managers of all 12 Women’s Super League (WSL) clubs sat down for their press conferences on Thursday and Friday, this weekend’s matches were not at the top of the agenda.
Following the news last week that Willie Kirk was under investigation by Leicester City over an alleged relationship with one of his players, The Athletic and other media organisations pressed his managerial counterparts for their views on whether relationships between players and coaches can ever be acceptable.
Most, but not all, were definitive that the dynamic must always be strictly professional. The allegation against Kirk — Leicester say he is assisting them with an “internal process” — comes only a few weeks after it emerged that former Sheffield United manager Jonathan Morgan had a ‘secret’ three-year relationship with a teenage player while he was Leicester manager. Morgan has accepted he crossed the line of what was acceptable but says he has been the victim of a “witch hunt”.
GO DEEPER
How Morgan’s ‘immoral’ relationship with his teenage player led to his sacking
Among the points raised by managers this week were the game’s transition from amateurism to professionalism, the power imbalance between a manager or staff member and a player, clubs’ codes of conduct and a…
