Although she was appointed over a year ago, Sarina Wiegman will only become England women's manager in September. The Dutch manager is taking over from interim coach Hege Riise, who also managed Team GB at the Olympics.
Wiegman was initially appointed after the departure of Phil Neville. Neville, who was first appointed the England women's manager in 2018, had stepped down in order to take up the Inter Miami job. Yet with Wiegman wanting to manage the Netherlands at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, England were forced to appoint Riise on a temporary basis.
It is easy to see why Wiegman is so highly regarded by the FA. She first came to global notice when she led her Dutch side to victory at their home Euros in 2017. At the time it was only the fourth international tournament the Netherlands had even qualified for, let alone won.
Wiegman followed up her Euros victory by leading her side to the final of the 2019 Women's World Cup, where they lost 2-0 to the USA. It was the USA again who ruined her leaving party in Tokyo as they knocked the Dutch out on penalties in the quarter-finals.
Prior to managing the Netherlands, Wiegman had coached Ter Leede and ADO Den Haag in the Dutch women's division. She was also an assistant at the men's side Sparta Rotterdam, making her the first woman to coach at a professional men's team in the Netherlands.
Wiegman will have to jump straight into work when she arrives at the Lionesses. With only nine months until England host the European Championships, Wiegman will not have much time to impress her ideas on the squad. Her first test as England women's manager will be World Cup qualifiers against North Macedonia and Luxembourg at the end of September.
