Casey Stoney agrees terms to take over as Canada Women head coach
Canada Soccer has agreed terms with former England captain Casey Stoney to take over as the new head coach of its women’s team, according to sources familiar with the deal who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Andy Spence is the current interim coach of the side, having taken over after Bev Priestman was handed a one-year suspension from football by FIFA for her role in the spying scandal ahead of their Paris Olympics campaign last year.
In November, Priestman was sacked by Canada after an independent investigation found members of Canada’s coaching team were asked by senior coaching staff to fly drones over a New Zealand practice session and obtain “surreptitious film footage” before the Paris Olympics on July 20 and 22, 2024.
Canada progressed to the quarter-final stage of the tournament where they were defeated by Germany, despite being deducted six points in their group due to the incident.
Stoney, 42, has been out of football since she was sacked by San Diego Wave in June 2024. Across her three seasons at the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) side, she won the NWSL Shield in 2023 and the NWSL Challenge Cup the following year, while she won the NWSL Coach of the Year trophy in 2022.
Stoney was previously the first coach of Manchester United Women, guiding them to promotion to the Women’s Super League (WSL) in the team’s first-ever season and two fourth-place WSL finishes before stepping down in May 2021.
As a player, Stoney featured for English sides Arsenal, Charlton Athletic, Chelsea and Liverpool, as well as making 130 appearances for her national side.
Responding to the story, Canada Soccer’s chief communications officer Paulo Senra said: “The search is ongoing and is confidential, and we are not commenting on the accuracy of any rumors. When there is news to report, you will hear it directly from us.”
Stoney’s jump to the international game should surprise no-one
It always felt like a matter of when, not if, for Casey Stoney’s next major managerial appointment after she was let go by the San Diego Wave last June. It also felt inevitable that Stoney would land at a big name — and her jump to the international game should surprise no-one.
No matter how her situation with the Wave actually ended, public sentiment around the Wave’s decision was almost entirely in her favor, with the club making the move too soon based on results, or at all. Stoney’s reputation and stock was essentially entirely unharmed, especially considering the Wave’s previous results and Shield win in 2023.
Considering the Wave’s results after her departure, nothing helped prove that Stoney was the issue.
Canada Soccer has swung big and gotten a real name
For Canada, this is a super interesting appointment — not just because of coverage and investigations around the use of drones, but because Canada Soccer’s finances have been a struggle. The federation has swung big and gotten a real name in the women’s football space, and made its statement of intent at the start of this cycle leading into the 2027 World Cup and 2028 Olympics.
It feels, at first glance, like a perfect match considering Stoney’s reputation as a defensive-minded head coach and Canada’s history of winning games and tournaments on gritty defending. Of course, there’s also the sheer fun of potential spicy CONCACAF match-ups between Canada and the USWNT to look forward to now as well, with Stoney and Emma Hayes on the touchline.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
US Women's national team, Manchester United, England, Canada, UK Women's Football, Women's World Cup
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