Forest Green Rovers made shockwaves on Tuesday night when they announced that Hannah Dingley will replace Duncan Ferguson as their interim manager.
It comes as an historic first for English football as Dingley becomes the first woman to take charge of a men's football team in the senior leagues. And while it may track that the EFL's most famously progressive football team, known for its commitment to green energy and veganism, would become the first club to take that leap, but take the optics and symbolism out of it and Dingley was the sensible choice for the top job while the search for an permanent manager goes on.
It didn't come from nowhere. More often than not it's the youth or reserve team manager who is called upon in these situations and Dingley, a highly-rated coach in FA and EFL circles, had been in charge of their academy since 2019. In many ways, it would not have been a great look not to give her the reins, and an audition to be named as Ferguson's permanent replacement.
