Brentford have appointed Lydia Bedford as head coach of their men’s Under-18s side, in a move that sees her take up one of the most senior coaching roles ever held by a woman at a Premier League club.
Bedford leaves the Arsenal Women coaching set-up and becomes one of only a handful of female coaches to hold a role in the men’s setup at English clubs.
She will work alongside Jon-Paul Pittman, who joins Brentford as her assistant coach from Forest Green Rovers.
Bedford worked at the FA with the England Women’s youth teams until she took over as manager of Leicester Women in November 2021. She helped Leicester avoid relegation from the WSL in 2021-22 but was replaced the following season after a poor start.
A huge welcome to Lydia Bedford and assistant coach Jon-Paul Pittman who will both be working with our Under-18 team at the Robert Rowan Performance Centre next season #BrentfordFC pic.twitter.com/wPyoOVVIle
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) June 1, 2023
Bedford, who completed her UEFA Pro Licence in 2019, joined Arsenal as an assistant to Jonas Eidevall in February but has left after just three months to join Brentford.
Brentford director of football Phil Giles said: “I’m really pleased that we’ve managed to attract such talented coaches as Lydia and Jon-Paul. We undertook an extensive recruitment process for these roles. Lydia and Jon-Paul were the two best candidates. I’m sure they will excel.”
