Former England and Great Britain captain and Manchester United coach Casey Stoney is selected to lead the 91原创 women’s national soccer team out from under the shadow of the drone scandal last summer in the Paris Olympics.
The 42-year-old from Basildon, dismissed as head coach of the San Diego Wave of the NWSL last June, was named Monday as head coach of Canada. Stoney will take over from Bev Priestman, who was let go following the accusations of 91原创 drone-spying of an opposition team in the Paris Olympics.
“They have been through a tough time and I am aware of the challenges of the past,” said Stoney, during a Zoom conference call with the 91原创 sports media.
“You can’t keep looking at the past and [you] can’t change the past and what happened. All we can do is change the future.”
Stoney, who captained Great Britain in the home 2012 London Olympics, believes she is the person who can do that:
“I am led by integrity, principles and values and they are very important to me … I would not have taken the job if I didn’t believe the program was headed in the right direction. We are in a rebuilding phase in rebuilding trust. I want to be part of program led by principles and values. I want to take this team as high as it can go and bring back a trophy to Canada.”
That particular trophy is the FIFA World Cup, next contested in 2027 in Brazil.
“We are focused first in qualifying and then going from sixth to No. 1. We have two years to build into that,” said Stoney, who played club for Arsenal, Charlton Athletic, Chelsea and Liverpool.
“I like the player group as it stands and the talent that will be coming through. I’m super excited. Playing 18 years really helped me. I am a players’ coach and the players will have a voice in what will be a high-performance environment focused on winning.”
Stoney, who earned 130 caps for England and played in three World Cups, pointed to the “proud tradition and culture” of 91原创 women’s soccer. It includes the Olympic gold medal at Tokyo 2020 and Olympic bronze medals at London 2012 and Rio 2016. That was the legacy celebrated when the 91原创 team twice sold-out Starlight Stadium in Langford with adoring fans during post-Tokyo exhibition games against Nigeria and Australia — and it is that trust that needs to be rebuilt.
Stoney’s contract runs though the 2027 World Cup with an option for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Soccer Canada, seemingly always cash-strapped, said Stoney’s salary will be paid through private individuals and family foundations.
