The new blues board made a statement of intent on Thursday morning with the announcement that former England manager Hope Powell CBE has been named the Women’s technical director . Hope will look at local communities to find the next Karen Carney or recent times Gemma Lawley.

HER PLAYING CAREER

Hope started her playing career at Millwall Lionesses when she was 11 years old under the influence of Alan May .

She then went to London Rivals Fulham where she was a runner up In the FA Cup in front of 914 spectators at Old Trafford .

Then she came back to Millwall where she was the all time record goal scorer and winning the league and FA Cup .

Her final move was to Bromley & Croydon were she scored a 142 times

In 1993–94 Bromley Borough won the National League Division One South by ten points, securing promotion into the top flight of English women’s football. Although they were handed a chastening 10–1 defeat by Doncaster Belles in the fifth round of the FA Women’s Cup. For 1994–95 the club entered a partnership with Croydon FC and enlisted Powell’s England teammate Debbie Bampton as manager. Powell was one of six Croydon players who represented England at the 1995 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

With Powell as captain and Bampton as player-manager, Croydon won a domestic double in 1995–96. In the FA Women’s Cup final against Liverpool at The Den, Powell equalised Karen Burke’s opening goal then scored from the spot as Croydon won a penalty shootout^] A farcical end of season fixture backlog saw Croydon play five games in ten days, winning four and drawing one to erode Doncaster Belles’ 13-point lead and win the National Premier Division on goal difference.

In 1997–98 Croydon lost both domestic Cup finals to Arsenal. The 1998 FA Women’s Cup final was lost 3–2 and, despite scoring Croydon’s second goal, Powell missed out on her third winners’ medal. She had agreed to take over as England coach and retired from playing. 

HER COACHING CAREER

In 2003 Powell became the first woman to be awarded the UEFA Pro Licence, studying alongside England Legend Stuart Pearce. She had become England coach in 1998, and led the national team to the final of Euro 2009 where they lost to Germany. It was speculated that Powell would become the first female manager in English men’s football when she was linked with the vacant managerial role at Grimsby Town in October 2009, however caretaker manager Neil Woods was appointed on a permanent basis.

Her last job in Coaching was at Brighton & Hove Albion announced that Powell had been appointed as first-team manager of the club’s women’s team On 31 October 2022, Powell stepped down from the role with an 8–0 defeat to Spurs being her final match in charge. 

WHAT SHE WILL BRING

Her experience of course, but more importantly bringing a structure for the girls in royal blue which we have not had since when David Parker and Marc Skinner were there.

I’m just so excited for the women’s team with the squad we have recruited so far, Matt Alvarez with his time in the NWSL with San Diego Wave FC to great success in 2022 and now Hope jumping on board we are living in a dream world.

STEPHEN GILL

#KRO

#A NEW DAWN

#THE GIRLS IN ROYAL BLUE