Former England captain Casey Stoney has expressed optimism about steering Canada’s women’s national soccer team past the drone surveillance controversy that impacted the squad during last summer’s Olympics.
Stoney’s appointment as head coach was announced on Monday, where she inked a three-year deal with Canada Soccer that extends through the 2027 Women’s World Cup, with a provisional option for 2028.
Assuming the role from Bev Priestman, who was dismissed following the fallout from the surveillance incident, Stoney emphasized the importance of focusing on the team’s future.
“It’s about now what we can do moving forward, how we can improve the team,” said Stoney. “The team’s done fantastic. I’m here to just support, make it better and make sure that the players are completely focused on what their job is, which is to win football matches.”
Stoney will officially take charge of the Canadian squad ahead of the upcoming Pinatar Cup in Spain next month.
Before this role, she coached the San Diego Wave in the National Women’s Soccer League, where she earned the title of Coach of the Year in 2022 during the team’s first season. However, she parted ways with the Wave in June following a challenging stretch that saw the team lose seven consecutive games.
Kevin Blue, the CEO and general secretary of Canada Soccer, reassured that the federation is committed to learning from the past in order to avoid repeating mistakes in the future.
“This sort of humble approach about understanding what happened and learning from it and then continuing a agenda of change and reform is something that the federation is committed to,” Blue remarked during a conference call with the media. “Hopefully bringing in people obviously like Casey, who is a world-class coach with strong values and character, is an example of what we’re trying to do.”
Stoney brings a wealth of experience to the role, having played 130 matches for England. She captained the Great Britain squad during the 2012 London Olympics and participated in three World Cup tournaments, securing a bronze medal at the 2015 tournament in Canada.
Furthermore, she also took part in three Women’s European Championships.
“I think the fact that I played 18 years internationally really helps me with the players. I understand some of the things they’ve been through, some of the things they’ve faced. I’ve faced them in my own career,” Stoney shared. “I said to the players on Saturday morning, ‘I’m a players’ coach,’ but I have trust in Kevin and the way he’s leading this organization. I know that they’ve been through a troubled past, but I wouldn’t have taken this job if I wasn’t confident that it was moving in the right direction.”
Prior to her time with the Wave, Stoney served as the head coach for the Manchester United women’s team.
