Arsenal appoint new permanent women’s manager | OneFootball

Renée Slegers has been named permanent head coach of Arsenal Women, signing a contract through to the end of the 2025/26 season.

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The 35-year-old takes the reins after an impressive three-month interim spell that saw the Gunners unbeaten across 11 matches, with 10 victories and 31 goals scored while conceding just five. Her leadership transformed a struggling team into a cohesive unit and earned her the Barclays Women’s Super League Manager of the Month award for December.

Slegers, who stepped up after Jonas Eidevall resigned on 15 October, has been credited with revitalising Arsenal’s campaign following a string of poor results that included a 5-2 Champions League loss to Bayern Munich and a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea. Under her guidance, the team rediscovered its defensive solidity, boasting the second-best record in the WSL, and topped Group C in the Champions League to reach the quarter-finals.

“I’m so excited to be continuing our journey together,” said Slegers. “It’s a wonderful honour to represent this club as head coach and I have so much belief in what we can all achieve together. Over the past few months, I’ve felt such a powerful sense of collective ownership and responsibility across our players and staff – that has been our strength and I know we will make sure we drive and nurture this feeling as we all move forward.

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“It has meant the world to me to feel the closeness and passion of our supporters during this process, and I want to thank you all for that. We want to deliver something beautiful that’s inspiring and leads to winning trophies. We all have a big part to play in achieving that.”

Slegers’ connection to Arsenal runs deep. After a successful playing career that included 55 caps for the Netherlands and stints at Willem II, Djurgårdens, and Linkoping, she returned to the club as Eidevall’s assistant in 2023. Before that, she won consecutive Damallsvenskan titles with Rosengård.

Her tenure as interim manager saw her gain the backing of fans, who even adapted holiday chants to include her name.

Clare Wheatley, Arsenal’s Director of Women’s Football, expressed confidence in the appointment. “We’re delighted to appoint Renée as our permanent head coach. Renée has excelled during her time as interim head coach, bringing our team, club and supporters together and leading us to a hugely impressive run of results and performances.

“We have undertaken a thorough recruitment process aimed at identifying the best candidate to lead our women’s first team at this exciting time. Renée was the stand-out candidate throughout the process and we’re thrilled to be continuing our journey with her as our permanent head coach. Renée understands the values and ambitions of our club, with experience of representing Arsenal both as a young player and now in a coaching capacity. We have every confidence that she is the best person to take us forward as we compete for trophies this season and beyond.”

Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images

The announcement comes as Arsenal prepare to face Crystal Palace on Sunday, following the postponement of their FA Cup fourth-round tie against Bristol City due to a frozen pitch. Club co-chairman Josh Kroenke expressed optimism about Slegers’ leadership: “We’re delighted to announce that Renée has become the new head coach of our women’s first team on a permanent basis. We’ve all been incredibly impressed by the way Renée has led the team since October, nurturing a great collective spirit across the group and instilling belief in what we do and what we want to achieve – to win trophies and drive women’s football forward together.

“Now we look forward with positivity to a big second half to the season and beyond, with the whole club including our supporters right behind Renée and the team.”

Former manager Jonas Eidevall, now at San Diego Wave, also publicly endorsed Slegers, calling her “a great leader” and saying her appointment was “the best for the club.”

Mikel Arteta, meanwhile, said “Very happy obviously and she’s done an excellent job since joining the role. I think its a very strong signal and very good decision.”

With a proven record of success and deep ties to the club, Slegers is poised to lead Arsenal Women into an exciting future, with her appointment signalling a commitment to both immediate results and long-term ambitions.