Willie Kirk | |
Birth Date: | 7 June 1978[1] |
Birth Place: | Edinburgh, Scotland |
Clubs1: | Preston Athletic |
Manageryears1: | 2010–2014 |
Managerclubs1: | Hibernian |
Manageryears2: | 2014–2015 |
Managerclubs2: | Preston Athletic (men) |
Manageryears3: | 2015–2018 |
Managerclubs3: | Bristol City |
Manageryears4: | 2018 |
Managerclubs4: | Manchester United (assistant) |
Manageryears5: | 2018–2021 |
Managerclubs5: | Everton |
Manageryears6: | 2022–2024 |
Managerclubs6: | Leicester City |
Willie Kirk (born 7 June 1978) is a Scottish football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Women's Super League club Leicester City.
Kirk played non-League football for Preston Athletic and agreed to manage the team in the 2014–15 Lowland Football League season.[2]
Kirk began his managerial career at Livingston as an assistant academy coach for the club's under-14 team in October 2006. He advanced to head coach of the under-14 team and took over head coaching position for the next age group up to the under-17 team.
In March 2009, Kirk joined the academy coaching staff at Hibernian to coach the under-17 team. Ultimately, Kirk earned the head coaching position of Hibernian L.F.C. His first season in charge of Hibernian led to winning the 2010 Scottish Cup.[3] Kirk followed up the 2010 Cup title by winning Scottish League Cup title, finishing as runners-up in the Scottish Cup, and third position in the table. The 2013 season saw Hibernian finishing second and Kirk earning Scottish Women's Football Manager of the Year award.[3]
In April 2015, Kirk made the move to England and was appointed manager of Bristol City competing in the FA WSL 1.[3] After a rough season, Bristol City was relegated to WSL 2, finishing in last place after the 2015 season. The relegation was short lived, as Kirk's Bristol City rallied in the WSL 2 finishing second during the WSL season and earned promotion back to the FA WSL 1.[4] Kirk's subsequent seasons would see back-to-back eighth place finishes, maintaining safety in the women's top flight.[5]
In June 2018, Kirk joined the coaching staff at the newly formed Manchester United as an assistant to Casey Stoney.[6]
In December 2018, Kirk was appointed manager of Everton after being offered the number one position of a top flight team.[7] His debut as manager of the Blues was a victory, defeating rivals Liverpool 2–1.[8] On 16 October 2021, Kirk left his position.[9]
In July 2022, Kirk was appointed as director of football at Leicester City.[10] On 3 November 2022, Kirk was appointed as manager, following the departure of Lydia Bedford.[11] On, it was reported that Leicester had suspended Kirk and launched an investigation into an alleged relationship between him and one of the players.[12] [13] [14] The investigation prompted several other managers in women's football to comment that relationships between managers and players are inappropriate.[15] [16] [17] On, Leicester sacked Kirk as a result of the investigation having found that he had "breached the team's code of conduct to a degree that makes his position untenable".[18] [19] [20]
In July 2022, Kirk joined Women's Super League club Leicester City as their first-ever director of football for both the first team and the academy.[10]
Hibernian Women
2011
2010, runners-up: 2011
Individual