Lydia Bedford lands Brentford U18 role working in the men's professional game at Premier League club
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Updated 01/06/2023 at 15:17 GMT
Lydia Bedford will take charge of Brentford's men's under-18 side after leaving Arsenal Women's coaching staff under Jonas Eidevall. Brentford's under-18 team was founded at the start of the 2022/23 season after the Bees were granted Category Four status under the Premier League's Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP). The junior Bees side competes in the South East Youth Alliance League.
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Brentford have appointed former Leicester City Women's manager Lydia Bedford as the club’s new under-18 head coach in a ground-breaking moment for the men’s game.
Bedford looks set to become the first woman to occupy a coaching position for a professional team at a Premier League club, although this is yet to be verified.
The 35-year-old has left Arsenal Women’s first-team coaching staff to take the role, after being part of Jonas Eidevall’s coaching staff for the last three months.
She will be assisted by Jon-Paul Pittman, who arrives from Forest Green Rovers.
Brentford director of football Phil Giles said in a statement: “I’m really pleased that we’ve managed to attract such talented coaches as Lydia and Jon-Paul to our under-18 team for next year. It’s an important time for the under-18 team as next season will be the first where they’ve operated out of the Robert Rowan Performance Centre and integrating them smoothly alongside the first team and B team will be essential.
“We undertook an extensive recruitment process for these roles. Lydia and Jon-Paul were the two best candidates, and thankfully we were able to finalise their recruitment to the staff. I’m sure they will excel, and we all look forward to working with them through pre-season and beyond.”
Bedford had a previous spell in charge of Leicester Women in November 2021 and guided the Foxes to Women's Super League safety.
However, she was dismissed after a poor start to the following campaign and was replaced by Willie Kirk. Bedford has also spent time coaching England Women's sides at under-15, under-16 and under-17 level.
The Mirror reports that Bedford is part of an exclusive list of women coaching in the men's game.
Former Lioness Jill Scott currently works within Manchester City's academy, while Hannah Dingley is the academy manager at Forest Green Rovers.
Brentford's under-18 team was founded at the start of the 2022/23 season after the Bees were granted Category Four status under the Premier League's Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP).
The junior Bees side competes in the South East Youth Alliance League and compete alongside clubs including Leyton Orient, Southend and Cheltenham.
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