On Monday, Canada Soccer officially announced the appointment of former San Diego Wave head coach Casey Stoney as the next head coach of the Canada Women’s National Team. Details of Stoney’s contract, namely its length, were not made public.
Stoney’s first matches as head coach of Canada will be a trio of friendlies at the Pinatar Cup in Spain during the February international window. The opponents for these matches have not yet been publicly announced.
At least part of Stoney’s salary and/or benefits are being funded through non-revenue sources, including donations to Canada Soccer. From the press release:
Stoney’s appointment is supported by philanthropic contributions to Canada Soccer, and she is the first beneficiary of a new fund established specifically to support women in elite coaching.
Stoney has a reputation for a defensive-oriented coaching style (The Athletic, Backheeled). In a 2022 The Athletic article, she described her approach:
Tactically, Stoney seems to gravitate first towards conversations about the defense. “You know, I talk about defensive organization, everyone goes-” Here Stoney rips a loud snoring sound. “‘Boring, she’s gonna be a low block.’ I’m not. You watch my teams play at Man United, we never sat in a low block. But we had good structure to be able to attack.”
Politely, she says that defensive organization in NWSL is “just a little bit non-existent,” so she thinks it’s an exciting place for the team to really develop. “I always see defensive organization as if you’re in a good structure, you have a better structure to attack from,” she says, pointing towards center backs Abby Dahlkemper and Naomi Girma as part of that foundation, with their abilities to switch play, play diagonals, drop big balls to play in behind, or drive play to midfield.
The 42-year-old Stoney was most recently the first head coach of the San Diego Wave in the National Women’s Soccer League until her abrupt dismissal in June 2024. Under Stoney the Wave won the 2023 NWSL Shield in just its second season. After the Wave’s inaugural season in 2022, she was also named the NWSL Coach of the Year.
Prior to being hired by the Wave, Stoney was the first head coach of Manchester United’s women’s team for three full seasons from 2018 to 2021.
Back in 2009, Stoney was briefly a player-manager for about five months in 2009 when she was with Chelsea.
As a player, Stoney was a member of the England Women’s National Team from 2000 to 2017, earning 130 international caps and scoring five goals for the Lionesses. She also captained the Great Britain women’s team at the 2012 London Olympics, which lost to Canada in the quarterfinals.
Stoney’s playing career began at Chelsea in 1994, when she was just 12-years-old. This was two years after the women’s team was formed and while Chelsea was advancing from the lower divisions of the women’s pyramid in England.
Stoney later played for Arsenal (1999-2002 and 2014-2016), Charlton Athletic (2002-2007), the defunct Lincoln Ladies (2011-2013), and Liverpool (2016-2018).
Canada Soccer Press Release: “Casey Stoney Appointed as Head Coach of Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team” (13-Jan-2025)
Women's Soccer Express 