Official: Denise Reddy appointed Chelsea FC Women assistant coach

The start of the 2020-21 WSL season is less than three weeks away while the inaugural Women’s Community Shield is just ten days away (August 29), and Chelsea FC Women certainly have been busy on and off the pitch already.

The players have been back to training for some time now — haven’t been able to play competitive matches since March with the WSL season curtailed due to the pandemic — while off the pitch, we’ve seen several contract extensions as well as new pieces added to an already stacked team.

That continued today with the addition of a new assistant coach, Denise Reddy, who used to be Emma Hayes’ assistant 10-12 years ago when they were both at the Chicago Red Stars in the USA’s WPS, then the highest level of women’s football in the country. Reddy has since taken on a few head coaching positions of her own, including in Sweden (Linköpings FC, Vittsjö GIK), Denmark (B.93/HIK/Skjold), and back in the States with Sky Blue FC of the NWSL.

Reddy’s arrival seems to be the only change to the backroom setup, with Hayes’ previously listed assistant coach, Paul Green, more of a “general manager” anyway for some time now — which includes being the club official present during contract extension and new signings announcements (a la Marina Granovskaia, or Michael Emenalo before her, on the men’s side).

In any case, welcome, Denise Reddy! Let’s win some things!