Lydia Bedford

Lydia Mary Bedford^[1] is an English professional football coach who is the manager of Brentford's under-18 men's team.^[2]

Lydia Bedford

Personal information
Full name	Lydia Mary Bedford
Team information
Current team	Brentford U18 (head coach)
Managerial career
Years	Team
2021–2022	Leicester City Women
2023	Arsenal Women (assistant coach)
2023–	Brentford U18

Career

Bedford began her coaching career in 2008 and earned her UEFA Pro Licence in 2019.^[3]

On 30 November 2021, Leicester City announced the appointment of Bedford as the first team manager of Leicester City Women on a contract to the end of the 2021–22 season. She officially started her role as first team manager on 6 December.^[3] She led Leicester to their first top-flight win in her second match in charge, winning 2–0 over Birmingham City at home.^[4]

After successfully keeping the team in the top division in 2021–22 season, she signed a new two-year deal with Leicester City Women on 5 July 2022.^[5] On 3 November 2022, she was replaced as manager by Willie Kirk.^[6]

On 24 February 2023, Arsenal Women confirmed that Bedford had joined the club as an assistant coach.^[7][8][9]

On 1 June 2023 she was appointed as new coach of Brentford's under-18 men's team, the first woman to coach at a Premier League club.^[2]

Honours

Individual

• FA Women's Super League Manager of the Month: February 2022^[10]

References

1. (PDF). 2017 Summer Universiade. 22 August 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 August 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
2. "Ex-Leicester women's boss named Brentford U18 coach". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
3. "LCFC Women Appoint Lydia Bedford As First Team Manager". Leicester City F.C. 30 November 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
4. "Leicester City's Lydia Bedford on navigating her first transfer window". The FA Women's Competitions. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
5. "Lydia Bedford Agrees New Contract To Continue Journey With LCFC Women". www.lcfc.com.
6. "Leicester: Willie Kirk replaces Lydia Bedford as Foxes boss". BBC Sport. 3 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
7. Arsenal W.F.C. [@ArsenalWFC] (24 February 2023). "Joining us as an Assistant Coach...Welcome to The Arsenal, Lydia Bedford 👋" (Tweet). Retrieved 25 February 2023 – via Twitter.
8. Stillman, Tim (24 February 2023). "Lydia Bedford joins Arsenal Women coaching staff". Arseblog. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
9. Pinnock, Hannah (25 February 2023). "Arsenal complete raid for former Leicester City coach Lydia Bedford". football.london. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
10. "February Barclays FA Women's Super League monthly awards". Sky Sports. 3 March 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2022.