Wellington Phoenix’s women’s team missed the A-League finals in 2024/25. Ninth spot on the ladder and seven wins was the best the team could manage in a season that ended badly with a string of losses.
English coach Paul Temple departed the club at the end of the season. The club deemed that a new direction was required if the team was to qualify for finals action for the first time.
The 2025/26 season will be the club’s fifth involvement at A-League level. A swathe of young talent has been developed at Wellington and transferred throughout the domestic league, as well as abroad.
Keeping the right pieces of the puzzle and adding a touch of quality from the outside will be the aim heading into a season of possibility and the person given the task of overseeing the progress of Wellington for the following two seasons is a controversial one.
The appointment is one of the most significant in the history of the women’s league. Having a World Cup-winning coach in control of one of the clubs is an extraordinary coup for the competition and should bring much benefit in terms of knowledge, experience and gravitas.
However, and quite sadly, Wellington have hired a cheat; a woman who has just sat outside of the game for 12 months after accepting a 12-month ban from FIFA.
English-born Bev Priestman is one of the biggest names to be found in women’s coaching. After working her way through the lower representative levels in Canada with the under-17s and under-20s, Preistman returned to her homeland and worked under Phil Neville as England assistant from 2018-20.
She began coaching the youngsters in Canada as a 27-year-old and still just 39, has achieved a heck of a lot for someone still learning their craft. It appeared a long and esteemed professional coaching career lay ahead when Priestman returned to Canada in 2020 to take over the reins of the national team.
Head coach Beverly Priestman of Canada looks on prior to the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Jordan Group B match between Germany and Canada at Amman International Stadium on October 3, 2016 in Amman, Jordan. (Photo by Boris Streubel – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Her tenure led into the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo that ended up taking place a year later. The Canadian team won the gold medal, in an unexpected but triumphant result for a nation that had twice won bronze in the limited competition and been consistently successful in CONCACAF play; winning the championships twice and running second on six occasions.
It seemed Priestman could do no wrong with a team well entrenched inside the top ten in the FIFA world rankings, yet she managed to do so in the end and with a complete lack of style, grace and class.
Heading into the 2024 Olympics, Canada would have liked their chances. Drawn in a manageable group with New Zealand, France and Colombia, the wins flowed and heading into the knock-out phase, Canada should have been atop the group and looking good for a medal.
Instead, after a brisk investigation discovered that Priestman and two members of her staff had arranged to fly a drone over the New Zealand training session at an official venue, the proverbial hit the fan. The Kiwis are a handy team, yet the decision to illegally spy and break FIFA’s fair play rules was astonishing.
Six points were docked from the Canadians’ tally, yet they still managed to squeeze through into the quarter-finals, where they were beaten by eventual bronze medalists Germany.
By the time the United States had won the 2024 Olympic gold medal, the Canadian coaches had already returned home in disgrace. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
By that stage, all three involved had been removed from duty and Priestman was to be stood down permanently as national coach just a few days later and following FIFA’s implementation of the 12-month ban.
That occurred on the 27th of July 2024 and Wellington Phoenix have obviously been in discussions with Priestman over the last few months, planning a potentially enormous yet controversial signing.
Just days after her ban ended, Priestman was announced by the Phoenix.
One wonders whether the coach had any interest elsewhere. Whether she is now seen as tarnished goods based on the stupidity and unethical behaviour she has never really explained. It also raises the question of whether Wellington have truly thought through the ramifications of the decision.
Sporting teams talk about standards, culture and expectations. Priestman’s past sits rather awkwardly with all three, with the playing group well aware of what transpired and a touch of cynicism certain to exist in the changeroom.
Of course, Priestman has already played the victim, discussing how difficult things were during the ban and not wanting to leave her house for fear of confrontation in the community. Yet it is all of her making and it will be the same for Wellington should things not work out in the way they hope.
In the end, they will own the outcome, just as Priestman owns the fact that she panicked about the New Zealand national team and flew a drone over their training session.
Stuart Thomashttps://https://ift.tt/8dBoev6 club signs controversial drone cheat and Olympic Games champion coach
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