Lydia Bedford has made history within the footballing world following her departure as assistant coach at Arsenal Women, to her appointment as head coach of Brentford’s u18 men’s team.
The move makes Bedford the first female to ever hold the position of head coach within a Premier League club, and will be joined by Jon-Paul Pitmann as an assistant coach following his move from Forest Green Rovers.
A huge welcome to Lydia Bedford and assistant coach Jon-Paul Pittman who will both be working with our Under-18 team at the Robert Rowan Performance Centre next season #BrentfordFC pic.twitter.com/wPyoOVVIle
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) June 1, 2023
The 35-year-old’s coaching career began in 2008 and she obtained her UEFA Pro Licence in 2019. Throughout her career she has held many positions most notably as head coach of Leicester women for the 21/22 season, as well as head coach of England’s women at u15, u16 and u17.
Most recently Bedford held the role of Assistant coach at Arsenal Women, and upon her departure from the club issued a thanks to the staff and players for the support she was shown.
Thank you @jonaseidevall and @ArsenalWFC for trusting me to come in and add to your environment.
To the players, thank you for rising to every challenge we faced. You have been relentless!
To the fans, I will never forget how it felt to have 60,000 of you at the Emirates ❤️ pic.twitter.com/5md5ds5sCh— Lydia Bedford (@LydiaBedford87) June 1, 2023
Since the announcement of her appointment, Brentford has expressed their admiration for the new coach stating, “[We’re] really pleased that we’ve managed to attract such talented coaches as Lydia and Jon-Paul to our under-18 team for next year.”
“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.”
We’re pleased to announce that Lydia Bedford will take on the role of Under-18 head coach ahead of the 2023/24 season.
Full story ⬇️ #BrentfordFC
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) June 1, 2023
Bedford’s side will be in action in the 23/24 season, featuring in the South East Youth Alliance League, the Youth Alliance Cup, as well as the Youth FA Cup.