Out gay former English captain Casey Stoney new coach of Canadian women’s national soccer team
Stoney was a longtime star with England's national team before she moved into coaching. The post Out gay former English captain Casey Stoney new coach of Canadian women’s national soccer team appeared first on Outsports.
Casey Stoney, the former English soccer captain who became a successful coach, has been tasked with taking over the Canadian women’s national team months after the former coach got booted from the Olympics over a drone spying incident.
“A great opportunity to work with world class players and good people in a culture of unity with leadership driven by people first values!!!” Stoney posted on Instagram. “Very excited to see what we can achieve together.”
Stoney, 42, came out as gay in an interview with the BBC in 2014, saying: “I feel loved and safe and my partner gives me the courage to say to the public that I’m gay. It’s not necessarily about me coming out but trying to help other people who have had struggles.
Get off the sidelines and into the game
Our weekly playbook is packed with everything from locker room chatter to pressing LGBTQ sports issues.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today
“In football circles [being gay] was pretty much common knowledge. My family have known for many years, my friends have known for many years. The people that have mattered to me have known.”
Her Wikipedia entry summarizes her amazing playing career: “A versatile defender, she was capped more than 100 times for the England women’s national football team since making her debut in 2000. After being a non-playing squad member at UEFA Women’s Euro 2005, she was an integral part of the England teams which reached the UEFA Women’s Euro 2009 final and the quarter finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2007 and 2011. In 2012, Stoney succeeded Faye White as the England captain and also became captain of the newly formed Great Britain squad for the 2012 Summer Olympics. She ended her playing career at Liverpool Ladies.”
She has been coaching since 2018, and most recently led the San Diego Wave of the National Women’s Soccer League. She was the coach of the year after taking the Wave to the playoffs in 2022 but was fired last June.
In taking over the Canadian national team, she is hoping to get the squad past the drone spying incident at the Paris Olympics that had then-coach Bev Priestman (herself LGBTQ) sent home and the team docked six points in the group stage. Canada made it to the knockout round before being eliminated and Priestman was fired in November.
“I know that [the players] have been through a troubled past, but I’m really confident,” said Stoney. “I wouldn’t have taken this job if I wasn’t confident that [the federation] was moving in the right direction.”
Stoney and her wife, former player Megan Harris, have three children and live in San Diego.
Subscribe to the Outsports newsletter to keep up with your favorite out athletes, inspiring LGBTQ sports stories, and more.
The post Out gay former English captain Casey Stoney new coach of Canadian women’s national soccer team appeared first on Outsports.
What's Your Reaction?
