Forest Green Rovers have named Hannah Dingley as their new caretaker boss, making her the first woman to manage a professional men's team in English football.

The League Two side sacked Duncan Ferguson on Tuesday after just six months in charge.

Forest Green announced Dingley, the club's academy head, would be put in caretaker charge of the first team.

Her first match in charge will be a friendly at Melksham Town on Wednesday.

The 39-year-old said: "I'm really excited for this next step of my career. Pre-season has just begun, and the full season kicks off very soon.

Forest Green's trailblazing academy manager Dingley on encouraging women into coaching
"It's an exciting time in football. I am grateful for the opportunity to step up and lead such a progressive and forward-thinking club."

She first joined the club in 2019 to take charge of the academy and remains the only woman to manage a men's English Football League academy.

Dingley, who was born and raised in Carmarthenshire, also initiated the club's girls academy which launched in 2021.

She has a Uefa Pro Licence and previously worked at Burton Albion

"Hannah was the natural choice for us to be first team interim head coach - she's done a fantastic job leading our academy and is well aligned with the values of the club," club chairman Dale Vince said

"It's perhaps telling for the men's game that in making this appointment on merit, we'll break new ground - and Hannah will be the first female head coach in English [men's] football."

'More than capable of coaching at a men's level'
Dingley spoke to BBC Points West in March about breaking down barriers in the sport.

"You've got a responsibility as the first to open the doors for others and to encourage others," she said.

"You always say if you don't see it, you're probably not going to be it. The fact that I do this I hope it encourages more females to come into coaching, into football, into different roles. I feel a great responsibility to talk about that."

She said at the time that she did not think it would be long until a woman took charge of a men's professional team.

"It will come in sooner than you think," Dingley said. "The success that the Lionesses are having, that Emma Hayes is having at Chelsea.

"There are others, really good female coaches out there who I have more than faith in would be more than capable of coaching at a men's level."

Opening day fixtures
Saturday, 5 August

Aldershot Town v Oxford City

Altrincham v Dagenham & Redbridge

Barnet v Hartlepool United

Chesterfield v Dorking Wanderers

FC Halifax Town v Bromley

Gateshead v Boreham Wood

Kidderminster Harriers v Woking

Maidenhead United v AFC Fylde

Rochdale v Ebbsfleet United

Solihull Moors v Eastleigh

Southend United v Oldham Athletic

Wealdstone v York City

Over and out.

Tom Whelan gets a two-year deal at Boreham Wood. Good luck to him. I liked him, but I don't think we'd have played him much this season.

Got a bit too involved in trying to run the game, but I suppose that what public school does for you.

Loving the new away shirts .......

Especially the red and blue, lime green is different but I like it.

Saw them on newsnow West Brom, £55 is a lot of money in the current financial crisis, why can't football clubs price shirts more realistically.
I know clubs of our size can't compete with the big money clubs and have to raise revenue somehow but the fans, the real fans, are the ones that are hurting.

Here's hoping for a successful new season but fearing the worst unless we get a change of ownership.

CoyB

Newly relegated Leicester have signed England internationals Conor Coady and Harry Winks on three-year deals.

Defender Coady, 30, arrives after eight years at Wolves while midfielder Winks, 27, joins from Tottenham Hotspur.

Both players, each capped 10 times, move for undisclosed amounts although Winks' fee is reported to be about £10m and Coady's £8.5m.

They become Enzo Maresca's first signings as Foxes boss since he took over at the Championship club in June.

All your Leicester City news and views
Each player had become surplus to requirements at their Premier League clubs, with centre-back Coady spending last season on loan at Everton, while Winks enjoyed a similar spell in Italy with Sampdoria.

Former Wolves captain Coady made 317 appearances for Wanderers and was included in England's squad for both Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup, although he did not play at either tournament.

He made his final Wolves appearance in May 2022 before a surprise loan move to the Toffees, playing 24 times as they avoided relegation at Leicester's expense.

"It's such an exciting place to be, I'm massively excited about joining so it wasn't a hard decision," Coady told the club website.

Winks, meanwhile, had been at Spurs since the age of five, making 203 appearances in all competitions since his debut in 2014.

He makes the switch from north London just three days after James Maddison sealed a £40m move in the opposite direction.

"I'm looking forward to a new challenge and to challenge myself," Winks said on the Leicester site. "Coming to a club like Leicester is the perfect chance to do that."

Winks played 128 Premier League games for Tottenham and was among their starting line-up for the 2019 Champions League final defeat by Liverpool.

But he slipped down Spurs' pecking order in recent seasons and his most recent England cap came in 2020.

Meanwhile, forward Nathan Opoku has joined Belgian side OH Leuven on a season-long loan, the Foxes announced later on Saturday.

The 21-year-old spent the second half of last season with OHL and scored three goals in seven league appearances.

After being relegated from the top flight on the final day of last season, Leicester begin their Championship campaign at home to Coventry City on Sunday, 6 August.

Starts tomorrow in Spain


Let's hope the rioting in every area of France has calmed down by the time they hit the Republic

Solihull Moors have appointed former Coventry and Brighton defender Andy Whing as their head coach.

Whing resigned as Banbury United boss in May, having led them to promotion to National League North in 2021-22 and a 17th-placed finish last season.

He succeeds Neal Ardley, who left Moors by mutual consent on Sunday, having been in charge for two seasons.

"I am absolutely delighted to make the step up into full-time management," Whing told the club website.

"My time at Banbury has given me a great grounding and the experience that I gained there will prove invaluable.

"Having seen the training facilities and the set up here at Moors, I am incredibly impressed by what I have seen and feel we have everything in place to have a successful season."

Whing will work alongside newly appointed director of football Stephen Ward and first-team coach James Quinn, but details of his contract have not been disclosed.

Solihull finished 15th in the National League last term after reaching the play-off final 12 months earlier - where they lost 2-1 to Grimsby Town after extra time at the London Stadium.

"I've known Whingy since my Oxford days and his professionalism, his commitment to the highest standards and his drive and work ethic have always impressed me," said chairman Darryl Eales.

"He understands the club and its community route and deserves this opportunity after his excellent spell at Banbury, and having learnt his stripes from working with experienced coaches like Michael Appleton and John Eustace."

https://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/article/st...pening-day

The "buddies" play Hibs at ER in the opening fixture on Sunday 6 August.
October looks like a testy month for Hibs with Hearts (A), Rangers (A), Celtic (H) providing the opposition before and after the "international break" for Scotland match commitments. Bring it on!!

A consortium led by the Uggla family have completed a 51% takeover of York City from Glen Henderson.

Julie-Anne Uggla and her son Matthew have purchased the club through the 394 Sports Ltd group.

They attempted to take over Yeovil Town last month but the deal collapsed, two months after they claimed to be "making all the decisions" at the Glovers.

Henderson took over at York last summer in a deal which saw the Supporters' Trust acquire the remaining 49%.

"It's amazing to get it done," Matthew Uggla told the club website.

"It has been a pretty quick process and we need to hit the ground running because things are getting under way and we need to catch up with other teams who have had all summer to prepare."

He added: "We can really take this club as far as we want to take it. I think the sky really is the limit, there's not really a ceiling on this club.

"It's just a case of putting the right structures and plans in place to really go for it."

The Minstermen finished 19th in the National League last season in their first campaign after winning promotion from National League North.

They have not played in the EFL since being relegated in 2015-16.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's read CC's interview yesterday regarding the type of players he wants at the club, etc etc.
Tempting fate, maybe, but it seems to me that the way he speaks he IS planning to stay....?

https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/foo...character/