On March 8, the club suspended the women’s team manager; Jennifer Foster and Stephen Kirby took over in interim leadership.
Willie Kirk, the manager of Leicester’s women’s squad, was fired following an investigation into an alleged relationship with a player.
Kirk was suspended while the WSL club looked into an alleged relationship with one of his squad members, the club claimed. The Guardian first reported on March 8 that Kirk “was determined to have breached the team’s code of conduct to a degree that makes his position untenable.”
After that, the manager was not there for the club’s 2-0 victory over Liverpool, which guaranteed them a spot in the FA Cup semifinals. Under Jennifer Foster’s direction, first-team coach Stephen Kirby will assist the team, and on April 14, they will play Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Since then, they have suffered losses in their two league games: a 3-2 setback to Brighton and a 1-0 loss to Tottenham.
After Lydia Bedford left Leicester four months later, 45-year-old Kirk took over as manager. He had previously worked for the club as director of football. After six games without a point when Kirk took over as manager, Leicester managed to end the season with 16 points, one more than Brighton and Reading, who were relegated.
Before taking a position as the under-17s manager at Hibernian in 2009, Kirk started his coaching career as an under-14s coach at Livingston in Scotland. He also coached the club’s under-17s. After positions as an assistant to Casey Stoney at Manchester United, Preston, Bristol City, Everton, and Manchester United, he took over as manager of Hibs’ women’s team in 2010.
Since Kirk’s suspension, the dynamics between women’s football managers and players have been under scrutiny. This year, Sheffield United has fired manager Jonathan Morgan for the second time on allegations of having a relationship with a player while he was at Leicester, before the team was recognized as a professional organization and connected to the men’s team.
In a statement released on Tuesday night, Leicester confirmed Kirk’s termination, saying the player was let go “after an extensive internal disciplinary process and respecting the club’s obligations to individual privacy.” “He violated the team’s code of conduct to an extent that renders his position untenable,” according to Kirk. The code was created and put into effect prior to the current season, and it is a part of the club’s continued effort to professionalize women’s soccer since acquiring LCFC Women in 2020. It also encourages a culture of performance among players, coaches, and technical personnel.
Following Kirk’s suspension, other managers in the WSL voiced their opinions on the matter. Jonas Eidevall of Arsenal referred to the player-manager connections as “very inappropriate,” while Carla Ward of Aston Villa branded them “unacceptable.” According to Ward and Lauren Smith, the manager of Bristol City, it ought to be considered a “sackable offence.
When Sarina Wiegman, the manager of England, brought up the topic for the first time at the Lionesses team announcement on Tuesday, she reflected the opinions of her WSL colleagues.
Relationships between players and coaches, in her opinion, are totally wrong. That’s not healthy, and we shouldn’t allow it. Our workplace is a professional one where performance is key, and safety should always come first. Although things do happen, they are improper, and we should all be extremely conscious of that.
When asked whether such connections should be prohibited by the Football Association or NewCo, which will take over the management of England’s top two divisions starting next season, she responded, “I think it is common sense… but when it happens too often you need regulations.” I’ll let others handle that.