Swansea City Ladies appoint Jon Beale as new head coach
Swansea City Ladies have appointed Jon Beale as their new head coach ahead of the upcoming 2022-23 season.
The Swansea-born coach spent time as head of academy coaching at the Swansea City academy before following former Swans goalkeeping and academy coach Tony Pennock to Hull City.
Beale spent six years at the Tigers’ academy rising through the ranks and taking over the under-23s team before being appointed as academy manager. During his time at the Yorkshire club, the academy made the step from Category Three to Category Two.
He departed that role at the conclusion of the 2019-20 season and has joined Chris Church and the coaching staff at Swans ahead of the new campaign.
Beale’s first match in charge will be a Uefa Champions League Round One fixture played in August as part of a one-venue mini-tournament which will determine who progresses to the second round held in late September.
The ladies will find out their opponents for those games at 1pm on Friday June 24 when the Round One draw is made.
Beale said: “I’m really looking forward to continuing the work we did last season with the girls.
“I’m excited about the prospect of being head coach and I’m grateful to Ian (Owen, general manager) and Leigh (Dineen, chairman) for the opportunity and I’m looking forward to the things we’ve got coming up: Champions League, looking to defend our title, and be competitive in the cup competitions like we were last season.
“The momentum of winning the league – and I think it was a difficult period, we lost a lot of key players for various reasons but the players that were there really stepped up to the plate and got the job done in terms of winning the league.
“If we want to be successful, defend out league title, be competitive in cup competitions and give a good account of ourselves in the Champions League, we have to meet those standards.
“It’s important that the players demand from us as a staff as well. That will help us all improve and drive forward."