New West Ham United Women manager Rehanne Skinner is fully relishing her new role.
Skinner was appointed the first female manager in West Ham history two weeks ago when she joined the Women’s side and will lead the team into the 2023/24 Barclays Women’s Super League campaign.
The former England coach is making the most of the summer schedule, taking the chance to offer her expert opinion on the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup while also preparing for the new season.
Scouting potential new signings and catching up with the Irons on international duty have filled Skinner’s time since taking charge at West Ham; responsibilities the new manager is taking in her stride.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Skinner said: “I’ve had some fantastic conversations with West Ham and it just felt like the right fit for everybody.
The timing of it obviously is what it is, here I am in Sydney, scouting players, checking on ours, but I’m really looking forward to the job.
“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, obviously. I had prior commitments with FIFA and had the world commentary, so I’ve been out here and making the most of it. I’ve been in contact with all the players.”
Despite being on the other side of the world, Skinner has kept a close eye on the start of pre-season training back at the team’s Chadwell Heath base.
It is a situation the coach is used to navigating, having also done so during her time as Tottenham Hotspur manager.
“I’ve been in touch with all our players, and obviously some of them I’ve spoken to out here. For me at the moment, it’s just about developing relationships with the staff and trying to do that from a distance.
“To be honest, when I went into my previous job I was with England and I was doing that for a few weeks from a distance as well, so sometimes it just happens like that”.
The new Barclays WSL season begins on Sunday 1 October when Skinner’s Hammers welcome Manchester City to Chigwell Construction Stadium.
The new manager has highlighted her ambitions for the coming campaign as the team look to develop both on and off the pitch.
She added: “We’ve got some players that we need to recruit, and we obviously want to develop the squad and we want to try and move the club forward. That’s a huge part of one of the conversations I had with the board members.
“West Ham is a fantastic football club; a big football club and we want to try and keep moving the women’s team forward in the right direction, so I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
