Andy Thomson has been announced as Assistant Coach of the Scotland Women’s National Team (reports www.scottishfa.co.uk).
An experienced coach with a storied playing career, Thomson most recently worked as assistant to new SWNT head coach Shelley Kerr in her previous role as manager of the University of Stirling men’s football team.
Prior to his role at Stirling he held the head coach positions at the University of Strathclyde, where he coached the men’s team to the British Universities and Colleges Sports league title in 2014 and 2015, and Edusport Academy, a football academy for young French players studying in Scotland.
For the past two years he has also coached at the Scottish FA’s Performance School at Braidhurst High School in Motherwell.
He is a UEFA A-license holder and is currently studying for an MSc in Performance Coaching at the University of Stirling.
Over the course of a 19-year professional playing career he played more than 550 games and scored nearly 200 goals, representing Queen of the South, Southend United, Queen’s Park Rangers, Partick Thistle and Falkirk, among others.
“It is an honour to be appointed as Assistant Coach of the Scotland Women’s National Team and I am immensely looking forward to getting started in the role,” said Andy.
“It is an exciting time for women’s football in Scotland and I am relishing the opportunity to work with a talented set of players and backroom staff.
“The team have enjoyed considerable success recently and it will be a challenge to continue their upward trend in results.
“The team’s success in qualifying for the Euros has been beneficial to promoting the women’s game across the country. The challenge now is to make qualification for major tournament finals a regular occurrence for Scotland, with qualification for the 2019 World Cup the immediate target.”
Shelley Kerr, SWNT head coach, said: “I am delighted that Andy has accepted our offer to take up the role of assistant coach and I look forward to working alongside him again.
“Andy and I have worked with each other successfully at Stirling for some time and he was the obvious choice for me when choosing my assistant coach.
“In addition to being an extremely talented coach, as evidenced by the success he has enjoyed in every coaching position he has held, Andy is also exceptionally motivated. He will be a tremendous boon to the Scotland Women’s National team coaching staff.”
