Former Portland Thorns boss Rhian Wilkinson has been appointed the new head coach of the Wales Women’s national team.
The role marks Wilkinson’s return to management for the first time since resigning from Thorns in December 2022 after she was investigated and cleared over her conduct.
The 41-year-old self-reported text messages in which she and then Thorns defender Emily Menges expressed feelings for one another. She insisted no inappropriate relationship took place and was cleared of any misconduct, but felt she lost the confidence of the team.
Wales have been without a permanent head coach since Gemma Grainger departed in January to take the Norway job. During Grainger’s tenure, Wales reached the World Cup play-offs for the first time but were beaten to a place at last summer’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand by Switzerland.
Wilkinson won 181 caps for Canada during a 13-year playing career. She held various coaching roles with Canada following her retirement and was Team GB’s assistant coach at the Tokyo Olympics, where she worked with Wales captain Sophie Ingle.
The former defender was appointed Thorns head coach in November 2021 and led the team to the NWSL Championship in her first season in charge.
Weeks after overseeing Thorns’ NWSL Championship victory, Wilkinson resigned following a joint three-week NWSL and NWSLPA investigation into her conduct.
Wilkinson said that in mid-October she exchanged a series of messages with Menges, a former teammate from her playing days. They expressed feelings for each other, but did not act upon them. She then communicated these conversations to Thorns’ human resources department.
The NWSL and NWSLPA investigation found Wilkinson had not violated any league or team policy.
However, some Thorns players were not satisfied with the investigation’s conclusions. Players sent a letter to NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman and chief legal officer Bill Ordower in November citing concerns about the relationship given the inherent power imbalance between a player and a coach.
While no evidence of coercion, abuse of power imbalance or other misconduct was found, and no league or team policies were deemed violated, Wilkinson says she felt she had lost the confidence of the team as a whole.
Wales have never participated at a major tournament and Wilkinson’s first task will be overseeing qualification for Euro 2025. Qualifiers begin in April.
(Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports)
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