The Week in Women's Football: Interview with WE League chief Okajima; Gustavsson named Matildas coach; NWSL coaching extensions | OneFootball

This week, Tribal Football interviews Kikuko Okajima, who is heading up the development of the new professional WE League in Japan, which is slated to launch in 2021. In NWSL news, we examine the contract extensions for head coach Marc Skinner and assistant coach Carl Green in Orlando with the Pride and reveal a new head coach in Utah—a former U.S. women's national team member—after more turmoil within the Royals organisation.

We then turn to England and look at the first two rounds of the FA WSL as well as the quarterfinals and semifinals of the 2019-20 FA Cup. We finish with news from Australia on the announcement of their new women's national team head coach and the PFA player of the year and young player of the year winners for the 2019/20 season, both of whom are senior Matildas and at club level were with Melbourne City and have recently joined clubs in Europe.

Interview with Kikuko Okajima, the Chair for New Professional WE League in Japan

TribalFootball.com talked exclusively this week with Kikuko Okajima, the chairperson for the WE League, the new professional women's football league in Japan that is slated to start next year. Uniquely, Ms. Okajima lives in Baltimore, Maryland and has been leading the league's development and sponsorship generation efforts from the States. We talked to her while she was in Japan for meetings. We reported on the initial plans for this new league in June: (see https://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/the-week-in-women-s-football-darwin-launch-all-indigenous-side-jordan-swaps-birmingham-for-ol-reign-canadian-hof-news-4330633). The WE League, which stands for Women's Empowerment, will sit atop of the pyramid of Japanese women's soccer, with the current ten team Nadeshiko League 1 becoming a second tier loop and Nadeshiko League 2, also currently comprised of 10 teams, becoming the third tier of the women's game.

Ms. Okajima said that they have had 17 teams bidding to join the new league, including Sanfrecce Hirsohima, who do not currently field a division 1 or 2 women's league team in Japan. She originally said that she would have been happy with 12 bidders so the response of potential franchise holders is quite uplifting. Other sides bidding including current Japanese league teams Urawa Reds and Vegalta Sendai, who field top level men's and women's clubs. She said that she expected to announce 8-10 teams later this month to start play next year. Each team is expected to have 5 spots to bring in foreign players. At least 15 players on each side must be on professional contracts, with five making the equivalent of $50,000 or more a year. The teams will also hire women in executive and operational roles.

One of the new league's challenges is to grow the number of spectators at women's football games. Ms. Okajima explained, "We want to target young women and girls who play and will work with local and regional football associations [in the league cities] so that the WE games do not conflict with the grassroots teams or tournament games." Working together with their grassroots partners on scheduling games will allow their young potential audience and their parents to attend WE League matches. Another sub-market that she is targeting are people who are not soccer fans and do not attend J-League [men's professional league] games. Some ideas that they want to implement is to create more of an event around WE games, such as having food trucks, crafts and local companies exhibiting their goods, so that people can enjoy the game and the event as well. It may in fact turn out that people come for the even and fall in love with game and return in the future for the games. Currently, according to Ms. Okajima, women's football (including national team games) tends to draw male fans in the 30-50 age group and the new league is an opportunity to expand that base, particularly with the female market.

Kikuko Okajima, the chairperson for the WE League, at her official announcement in July. Photo Courtesy of the Japan Football Federation.

On the question of raising sponsorship revenue for the league, she said that the delay of the Olympic Games in Tokyo from 2020 until 2021 and COVID-19 in general have slowed the progress. One Cosmetics' company was interested earlier in the year but, "Their sales in lipstick for example are way down as women, who would buy their products, have been at home from March through August and then wear masks." On the plus side, the WE League has US$3 Million (315 Million Yen) from the Japan Football Federation (JFA) for Year 1 and US$8 million (845 Million Yen) for the next 4 years (2022-2025). She said that they can utilize some of the FIFA Forward 2.0 annual disbursement of US$ 500,000 to the Japanese federation. Her career in the States in Banking and Securities will definitely aid her in her marketing and fundraising efforts.

Kikuko Okajima is quite clear in her vision for the WE League. She played in the 1970's with FC Jinnan, Japan's first women club, and played in the AFC Women's Championship. Even though she is starting the league the year after COVID-19 has drastically hurt men's and women's soccer clubs around the world for their revenue streams, the WE League is definitely one to follow and has the potential to quickly become one of the leading leagues in the world and talked about in the same way as America's NWSL, England's FA WSL, Spain's Primera Division Femenina, Sweden's Damallsvenskan and Germany's Frauen Bundesliga. We will continue to closely follow the WE League, including the announcement of their inaugural season franchises later this month.

Orlando Pride Extends the Contracts of Head Coach Marc Skinner and Assistant Coach Carl Green for the 2021 season

TribalFootball.com talked to Orlando Pride head coach Marc Skinner after it was revealed on September 23, 2020 that the club had exercised its option year on his contract and for his assistant coach Carl Green through the 2021 season. Skinner said that, "Part of the work was to stabilize the club and put a strategy in place to continue to grow." After a disastrous first season, gaining only 16 points from 24 games and then not being able to play in the Utah Challenge Cup tournament this past summer due to a COVID-19 outbreak among players and staff, he is committed to the cultural development at any club he is at. He explained to me that in Orlando, "We have the players we need…We want to build a stronger underbelly with support from away from the field." Skinner wants to see the team take more of its [scoring] chances in the games to come, something that let them down badly last year." He emphasized that his philosophy was to, "work together to be a better team with no ego involved." Growing up he admired the work of long-time Nottingham Forest and Derby coaching legend Brian Clough.

Marc Skinner shows his appreciation to the fans in Orlando. Photo courtesy Orlando Pride.

Orlando Pride President and former NWSL President Amanda Duffy said in an announcement about the coaches' contract extensions, "We're currently in the process of establishing a high performing Pride organisation that delivers results both on and off the field, and we're pleased to have Marc and his staff continue leading this team. While this year has been unique, and we've experienced immensely difficult moments, Marc and Carl have proven to have a positive impact on the core of our roster and are an integral part of building the culture of our team to achieve much success.

They each have built tremendous relationships and respect within our locker room, and we are excited to see the product of their work with the Pride next year." Skinner joined the Pride ahead of the 2019 season from Birmingham City of the FA WSL. Green worked on Skinner's staff at Birmingham as a Sports Scientist and Strength and Conditioning Coach, before becoming the lead assistant with the Pride.

Orlando Pride Assistant Coach Carl Green during training. Photo courtesy Orlando Pride.

This writer thinks that this is a very good move by the Pride management. Skinner and the Pride have been handicapped by the COVID-19 pandemic—losing all but 4 games this season—but he is one of the best coaches in the league to interview and consistent in his positive attitude towards his players and the organization. He is well-thought out, always cordial and clear in his vision for the club and their of play. It won't be a surprise to this writer if the Pride makes the playoffs next season, leveraging the strong acquisitions he made in the off season (including Canadian international goalkeeper Erin McLeod, New Zealand international defender Ali Riley and U.S. international back Emily Sonnett) slotting in with holdovers Marta of Brazil, Alex Morgan of the U.S. and Claire Emslie of England.

Utah Royals Promote Amy LePeilbet to Interim Head Coach

The Utah Royals, after facing recent charges of racial and sexual intolerance by their owner and another key executive, has faced even more turmoil during the NWSL's Fall Series when head coach Craig Harrington and assistant coach Luis Lancaster were both placed on a leave of absence before their first game away to Portland on September 20. Amy LePeilbet—a former U.S. National Team player (winning a Gold Medal in the 2012 Olympic Games and a runner-up in the 2011 Women's World Cup in Germany) and ex-Arizona State University, WPS and NWSL player—was named interim coach. LePeilbet has coached the Royals reserve side in the WPSL, winning Coach of the Year honors as she led the side to the League Final in 2019. Reports are that Harrington made "inappropriate comments of a sexual nature with staff," and Lancaster's offense involved an undisclosed issue. Harrington is from Hilingdon in Middlesex in England and coached the Turks and Caicos national team on the men's side for three years. Lancaster (38) is a native of Barking, England and played semi-professional football at home, including for Hereford Town and Wealdstone. As a coach, he was an assistant at Shanghai Shenxin in China League 1 and spent three years with the Chinese Taipei men's national team, including as head coach in 2019. Harrington had just replaced former Arsenal and Seattle Reign head coach Laura Harvey, who left the Royals after the 2019 season to take a job coaching the U.S.-20 national team, after he had been an assistant coach to Rory Daimes in Chicago.

Under LePielbet, the Royals fell to Portland 3-0 on September 20. They returned home to Salt Lake City on September 26 and tied OL Reign 2-2, with all the goals coming in the first half hour. French international import Aminata Diallo scored the Royal's first goal in the 9th minute before rookie Tziarra King (a U.S. youth international and former North Carolina State forward), doubled the score in the 22nd minute. Bethany Balcer scored a minute later for OL Reign and then New Zealand international Rosie White (who has over 100 caps for her country and played in 3 Women's World Cups) knotted the score in the 28th minute. The Royals had 14 shots to 10 for OL Reign (8-2 for Shots on Goal). The tie is good for LePeilbet to make a case to continue in the job full-time in 2021, which would make her only the second female head coach in the league, joining Freya Coombes of Sky Blue FC. She would also be only the second American-born coach, joining Rory Daimes of Chicago.

England FA WSL/FA Cup Update

In England's FA WSL, Arsenal has made a bright start to the 2020-21 season with two resounding wins. On September 6, the Gunners defeated Reading 6-1 at home to open the season and then crossed the city to face West Ham United, delivering a punishing 9-1 verdict in a London derby. Their two Dutch internationals, Jill Roord (3) and Vivianne Miedema (2), combined for 5 goals against Reading. Scottish international Kim Little scored the first goal of the game and Australian international Caitlin Foord came in with 20 minutes remaining and assisted on the final two goals of the game. In the derby win over West Ham, Roord again had a hat trick, with Miedema adding a second brace in the new season's campaign, while Kim Little once again added a goal, as did Foord. Roord (6) and Miedema (4) top the FA WSL goal scorers list so far.

Everton is also perfect in the league, opening with a 4-0 win away over Bristol City on September 6 and then defeating Tottenham Hotspurs at home 2-0 on September 13. In the Bristol City win, Scottish international Lucy Graham scored twice against her former side—once from the penalty spot—as she left Bristol to join Everton ahead of the 2019/20 season. Graham also turned provider twice, first to Northern Ireland international Simone Magill for the first goal in the 7th minute and then again to new import, French international and 2019 WWC team member Valerie Gauvin, who played the previous 6 years at Montpellier. English international Isobel Christiansen scored the only goal of the game in the 51st minute, in her second game with the club after transferring back home after two years in France with Olympique Lyon. Magill (25) has been at Everton since 2013 and holds the world record for the fastest ever women's international goal, scoring after 11 seconds against Georgia in a EUROS qualifier in 2016.

Manchester United, Brighton and Hove Albion, Manchester City and Reading are all undefeated in the 12 team FA WSL with 4 points after two games. Scottish international Kirsty Hanson (22) leads Manchester United with 2 goals while Australian international striker Sam Kerr leads Chelsea with 2. Arsenal leads the league in total goals scored with 15, with Chelsea second on 10, Man United third with 6 and Everton fourth with 5. Everton, Brighton and Man City have not surrendered a goal yet in 2020-21, while Bristol has not scored at all and surrendered 13 to sit at the bottom of the table on goal difference with 0 points—along with Birmingham City and Aston Villa—who both are also pointless this season.

In the 2019-20 FA Cup Quarterfinals (resuming after the 5th round was played in February and then was suspended when sports in the country were shut down because of COVID-19, Arsenal defeated Tottenham Hotspur in the London Derby on September 26. The game was scoreless until the 72nd minute when English international midfielder Jordan Nobbs (who has been at Arsenal for a decade) intercepted a pass deep in the Spurs end and scored. Then Scottish international Lisa Evans (28), who we talked with last month (see: https://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/the-week-in-women-s-football-exclusive-with-arsenal-star-evans-aston-villa-make-moves-ucl-quarter-finals-4338178), scored three times in succession within the final 23 minutes of the game to send the Gunners onto the semifinals. Arsenal move one step closer to a record-extending 15th FA Cup triumph, having not won the tournament since 2016. American international Alex Morgan, the high profile two-time Women's World Cup winner who recently arrived on loan from Orlando Pride, did not see action for the Spurs in the match.

Lisa Evans (far right) had plenty to celebrate against Tottenham Hotspurs with a hat trick in the 4-0 FA Cup Quarterfinal victory. Photo courtesy Arsenal WFC.

In the other three quarterfinal matches on September 27, Everton hosted Chelsea and upset the Champions of the shortened 2019-20 FA Super League season 2-1. Brighton and Hove Albion hosted Birmingham City and after a 2-2 deadlock, Birmingham City advanced on penalty kicks (4-2). Championship League (second division) side Leicester City WFC narrowly fell to Super League power and 2018-19 FA Cup winners Manchester City (2-1).

At Goodison Park, Everton and French international forward Valérie Gauvin—who joined from Montpellier in the summer—scored the winner as Everton recovered from Erin Cuthbert's early goal for Chelsea, with their first coming from a Lucy Graham header. In Brighton, Georgia Brougham (on loan from Everton) scored to seal a 4-2 win on spot-kicks for the Blues after keeper Hannah Hampton (19—an English youth international who was on the full side for the SheBelieves Cup in the U.S. earlier this year) had saved from Brighton's Republic of Ireland international Megan Connolly (who played at Florida State University). Brighton's Welsh international forward Kayleigh Green and Birmingham's Claudia Walker (who played previously with Liverpool and Everton) both missed early in the shootout, but Hampton's save on Connolly sent her side onto the semifinals. Birmingham had twice led during the game but another Irish international—Denise O'Sullivan, on loan from the North Carolina Courage of the NWSL—scored late to send the match into extra time. Birmingham, winners of the Women's FA Cup in 2012, advanced to take on Everton four days later (see below).

Leicester City gave an outstanding effort against Man City, falling behind 2-0 by halftime with a penalty kick goal by English international Chloe Kelly (who joined from Everton in the off-season) and a second by English international Georgia Stanway (21) but put pressure on City after English youth international Millie Farrow (who joined from Reading in the off-season) was pulled down in the penalty box and English youth international Charlie Devlin (who joined in the off-season from Charlton Athletic) scored from the penalty spot in the 78th minute. Leicester City manager Jonathan Morgan said: "I'm very proud, not only of the first eleven today and the subs but the whole squad that has pulled together. I thought we executed our plans very well and limited their opportunities. We stuck at our task and fought to the end; I don't think Manchester City expected us to be that way….Now we have been brilliant against Manchester City, we need to be consistent and we want to get this club promoted. Today we have shown we can compete against the best clubs."

Leicester City has the financial backing of Thailand's King Power travel retail group and are now fully professionally, bringing in 13 new players in the off-season, though they could only use six of them due to FA rules since the tournament—in a normal year—would have been completed in late spring. The Foxes have 4 points from their first three Championship fixtures for 2020-21 (1-1-1- W-D-L), behind Sheffield United, Liverpool and Durham, who are all deadlocked on 7 points in first place.

In the semifinal round, Everton defeated Birmingham City 3-0 on September 30 to advance to the FA Cup for the fifth time in their history but first time ever at Wembley Stadium. Everton lost to Charlton Athletic 1-0 in 2005, defeated Arsenal 3-2 in 2010 in overtime with two goals by Natasha Dowie—who is now at AC Milan—and fell 2-0 to the Gunners in the 2014 Final. Their forerunner club, then known as Leasowe Pacific, defeated the Friends of Fulham 3-2 in 1989. Everton was powered by goals by Magill, Danish international Nicoline Sorensen (who joined this season from Brondby) and another goal from French international substitute Valerie Gauvin. Everton manager Willie Kirk (who joined the club in December of 2018) joked after the game that he is happy with Gauvin coming off the bench but seriously explained that she had a long layoff from the game (France's Division 1 Feminine was one of the first to shut down completely this year during the COVID-19 pandemic and did not resume its 2019-20 season except for Cup matches). The Scottish native joined Everton from Manchester United where he was an assistant and previously was Scottish Women's League Manager of the Year with Hibernian in the 2013 season.

On October 1, Manchester City defeated Arsenal 2-1 in a game that was very much dominated through possession and attacking play by City. Arsenal was missing Jill Roord and Lisa Evans through injury and had very few attacking options from the bench to deploy. English international captain Steph Houghton open the scoring with a brilliant free kick goal from outside the box, then English international Jordan Nobbs, who played only one game at the 2015 Women's World Cup and missed last summer's event through injury, tied up the game with a long range blast for the Gunners. American international Sam Mewis scored the ultimate winner just minutes later. Manchester City faces Everton in the 2919-20 FA Cup at Wembley Stadium on November 1.

Tony Gustavsson is named as head coach for the Westfield Matildas through the 2024 Olympics

Sweden native Tony Gustavsson, who served as lead assistant coach to Jill Ellis for the Women's World Cup title-winning Americans in 2015 and 2019, was named on September 30 to lead the Australian Women's National Team as head coach through the 2024 Summer Olympics He was as assistant coach to Pia Sundhage (now the head coach in Brazil) when she coached the Americans to the 2012 Olympic Gold medal. Gustavsson played 15 years as a player and led the now defunct Tyreso to a Damallsvenskan title in 2012 in Sweden as well as to the 2014 UEFA Women's Champions League Final against German giants WfL Wolfsburg, with a star-studded team led by Marta of Brazil. With the Olympics pushed back to 2021 due to COVID-19, he will coach the Matildas through two Olympic Games cycles (Tokyo and France, the AFC Women's Asian Cup in India in 2022, and the 2023 Women's World Cup, which Australia will host jointly with New Zealand. Gustavsson is expected to further develop native Australian coaches including Mel Andreatta (ex-Brisbane Roar and now full national team assistant coach), Rae Dower (ex-Canberra United and current U-17 national team coach), and Leah Blayney (a former Matilda and who played with the Boston Breakers in WPS and Eskilstuna in Sweden for one season each and now leads the U-20 side).

Gustavsson talked about how excited he was to be selected as Matilda head coach, "I am extremely proud and happy to have been appointed Head Coach of the Westfield Matildas. I feel that my 21 years of coaching have put me in the position to be ready for this. It feels as if I have come to a moment where this is what I have been waiting for, to lead the (Westfield) Matildas for four years and also at the FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2023. I have always said that the Matildas have the potential to be one of the best teams in the world and that is one of the reasons that I wanted to get on board with this job. I have been in the pressure cooker a lot of times and in environments that demand success. These experiences will be beneficial as we do this together with the fans, the stakeholders, the players, and the staff as a team."

Gustavsson (47) is currently employed as first team coach with Swedish Allsvenskan club (men's) Hammarby IF until the end of 2020.

Gustavsson on the sideline with the USWNT (Photo: Getty Images/Australian Football Federation)

Interestingly, the runner-up for the Australian women's national team coaching position was former Italian, Canadian and Trinidad and Tobago women's national team head coach Caroline Morace. She spends a lot of time now in Australia and is a respected clinician but to coach a team that has huge potential to win the Japan Olympic Games next summer in Tokyo and the 2023 World Cup on home soil (with New Zealand as joint hosts) would have been a risky choice. In those years, I closely covered Canada's side for both American and Canadian outlets and was at the nadir for her side at the 2011 Women's World Cup where they crashed to France 4-0 and ultimately finished as the worst team at the event on the points table. I spent a long time with Morace after that game as well as a number of players—some of which I had known for years—and there was such a sense of relief that the tournament was over and a feeling that the team had plateaued. John Herdman then came in from New Zealand to replace Morace and the next year the core of the same team won the Olympic Bronze Medal in London. The France game in 2011 was one of the most depressing matches I have ever covered. With Gustavsson's appointment, we are seeing a trend in which top national team programs are selecting a top international as head coach with strong experience coaching women over local choices who have not coached women—as England recently did with Sarina Wiegman coming in after the next Olympics for Phil Neville. Ante Milicic, who many viewed as a temporary choice and who had had no previous experience coaching women, had announced that he would step down as Matilda head coach after the 2020 Olympics (postponed until next year) to pursue an opportunity in the A-League.

Steph Catley and Ellie Carpenter Win PFA Awards in Australia

In other news from Australia, Steph Catley (now at Arsenal in the FA WLS) was awarded the PFA Women's Footballer of the Year for the first time, while Ellie Carpenter (now Olympique Lyon) won the Young Footballer of the year award, also for the first time. The PFA is voted on by the players. Catley (26) led Melbourne City to the double of Premiership and Grand Final title in an undefeated season in 2019/20, scoring the winning goal in their Grand Final win over Sydney FC (1-0) in front of a closed stadium at the start of the COVID-19 crisis in Australia in mid-March. She defeated Sam Kerr (Chelsea) and Emily van Egmond (Orlando Pride and West Ham United on loan) for the award.

Ellie Carpenter (20) won the Young Player of the Year award after a stellar year with the Matildas and Manchester City. She won the award over 2018/19 winner Karly Roestbakken (Canberra United and LSK Kvinner in Norway) and Kyra Cooney-Cross (Western Sydney Wanderers and who is being watched by clubs in Northern Europe.)

Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women's football. Get your copy today.

Follow Tim on Twitter: @TimGrainey