Following last week’s announcement that they had parted company with Dave Edmondson, Bristol Academy today announced that they have appointed Willie Kirk as his successor to the role of head coach.
Having previously managed Hibernian LFC for four years, Willie arrives at Bristol from the Scottish FA’s National Performance Centre for Women’s Football, having held the position of High Performance Football Manager.
Kirk had previously caught the attention of Bristol Chairman Simon Arnold last year, having been one of the applicants to succeed Mark Sampson who left the Vixen’s to take over as manager of England Women. However he was unsuccessful due to not having completed his A Licence coaching badge at that point, which is a requirement in the WSL. Since then he has now achieved this qualification and as a result found himself on Bristol’s radar following the departure of Edmondson.
He said in response to his appointment:
‘I am delighted to be offered the opportunity to manage Bristol Academy. I believe I can build on the foundations laid by Dave Edmondson and Bristol have enough money available for me during the next transfer window to strengthen the squad.
The set-up is fantastic at Bristol, highly committed players, great supporters, generous sponsors, hardworking back office staff and talented coaches and I can’t wait to get going. The start of the season has been disappointing, however the results have not been a true reflection of the performances and this gives me confidence that we can turn things around.
The girls here have big hearts, they want to play for each other and the spirit in the camp is very positive which is a great place to start.’
Kirks first game in charge will be the Vixen’s home game against Arsenal on Saturday May 9th.
