Lack of English women coaching in WSL 'needs looking at'

West Ham's Rehanne Skinner says the lack of coaching opportunities for English women in the Women's Super League "needs to be looked at across the board".

Skinner is one of two English female managers of the WSL's 12 clubs. Crystal Palace's Laura Kaminski, who joined this year following the club's promotion from the Women's Championship, is the other.

Former Tottenham boss Skinner, 44, is one of the most experienced coaches in the league having also acted as assistant coach with the Lionesses under Hope Powell.

She says part of the problem with few English women being able to make the step into a head coach role is the lack of coaching opportunities for them in order to gain experience.

"It’s getting that exposure. You don't really get that too easily. Women are helping women a lot in the game," Skinner told BBC Sport.

"But other clubs are not necessarily giving the same opportunities, or there are other people who are not thinking in the same way.

"That's a part of the growth of the game and it's why I've always supported female coaches in the way I have. It needs to be looked at across the board.

"We should be ensuring there is space in everyone's coaching teams to support it. There is more than enough space within clubs to have more diversity to give different perspectives."

Skinner's comments came after a BBC Sport article asked whether WSL clubs were overlooking homegrown female managers.

Birmingham City manager Amy Merricks said it was in part down to clubs not providing experience opportunities and also highlighted there were no black managers in the top tier.

"I’ve been fortunate in my career that Hope Powell supported me and gave me my first opportunity with England," added Skinner.

"There was a female mentoring scheme at the time so there were people trying to help grow it within the women's game but the numbers were very small.

"I've always tried to support English female coaches. At England, I had a mentee with me who was Carly Davies - now Nottingham Forest manager.

"When I went to Tottenham I approached [ex-Bristol City head coach] Lauren Smith to try to help her come back into club football.

"I employed Vicky Jepson [as assistant manager] at Tottenham because she had just been sacked by Liverpool and had been in the game a long time."

Tottenham manager Robert Vilahamn is one of several foreign coaches who have joined the WSL in recent seasons.

The Swede took over in 2023 and led Tottenham to their first Women's FA Cup final last season.

He is supported by assistant Jepson and says it is crucial to have female coaches within his staff.

"I think it's very important that we bring in more and more female coaches - head coaches and assistant coaches. It's a gap - and there is too few," added Vilahamn.

"When I was at BK Hacken I had mainly men around me in the first year and I realised 'I cannot have it like this.'

"It's hard to understand and work with women when I don't have women around me. Next season, I recruited a female and that was down to, of course, the quality of coaching, but also making sure we brought more female staff members in."

Vilahamn says the staff at Tottenham are "largely female which is very good" but wants all clubs to keep pushing for more.

"I think we need to push even more and make sure we find room to develop both men and women and make sure we have more females in the game," he added.

"It comes down to finding the right character and qualities for the role but you should look for more women. It's important for the future of the game."