Player-coach relationship debate rears its ugly head
SIX years ago Sue Campbell, the English FA’s head of women’s football, said that relationships between players and coaches were a ‘concern’.
Mark Sampson had just been sacked as England manager after it had emerged he had previously had a relationship with a player at Bristol Academy. Campbell said it was an issue the women’s game had to deal with.
Perhaps because the Women’s Super League had only just turned professional, Sampson’s sacking did not lead to a domino effect. But there has been a can of worms waiting to be opened since then and it appears the lid may be ready to come off.
Last month, Jonathan Morgan was sacked by Sheffield United after the club learned he had a relationship with a teenage player as manager of Leicester. Morgan admitted the relationship in an interview with The Athletic and maintained the player was 18 at the time — though her mother claimed she was 17. He added that such relationships are ‘rife’ in the women’s game. That statement is not inaccurate.
On Friday, news broke that Leicester had suspended manager Willie Kirk over an alleged relationship with one of their players.
The 45-year-old was not on the touchline for the Foxes’ FA Cup quarter-final win at Liverpool the following day, with a club spokesperson saying he was helping them with an ‘internal process’.
It is important to note Kirk has not been found guilty and that this is an ongoing process. But he is unlikely to be the last manager investigated.
Mail Sport has been told of several relationships, past and present, between managers and players in the women’s game.
Some are between men and women and some are between two women. There seems to be more acceptance of the latter.
Mail Sport knows of several female coaches alleged to have had relationships with players. Some took place before the women’s game became professional and others are more recent.
Some are not reportable for legal reasons. There can also be issues over whether players or coaches have disclosed their sexuality.
Several people would need to be willing to come forward — potentially the players themselves, which is unlikely if the relationships are consensual.
There are more complicated examples too.
Last month, Wales hired Rhian Wilkinson as their manager. Wilkinson, 41, was investigated amid concerns over her conduct as head coach of the American club Portland Thorns.
Wilkinson said she had exchanged messages with one of her players, who had previously been a team-mate, and that the two had expressed feelings for one another but not acted upon them.
Wilkinson said she reported herself to the club, who passed the information to the National Women’s Soccer League.
The investigation exonerated Wilkinson of any wrongdoing but she decided to resign after feeling she had lost the support of the players. Some are said to have felt ‘unsettled and unsafe’.
There are questions of morality to be asked. Where is the line? Should managers be punished for historical relationships that happened before the game became professional? Does it depend on the age of the player?
Some may argue two consenting adults should be free to do as they please. Relationships in the workplace are acceptable, so why is football different?
In 2022, the English FA offered guidance to clubs which said: ‘Coach and adult player relationships are not advised because of the potential for power imbalance and the impact on team culture and dynamics. These are usually matters for clubs to manage via codes of conduct and expected standards of behaviour.’
There will no doubt be other managers looking over their shoulders now after news of Leicester’s probe into Kirk.
Because once the lid is off on this issue, it is hard to put back on.