Everton Women have announced that the Danish manager Brian Sørensen will take charge of the team before 2022-23 on a two-year contract.
The 41-year-old joins the Blues from Fortuna Hjørring, the team he rejoined at the start of the 2021-22 season having previously reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2016-17 and won two Elitedivisionen titles with the club.
Sørensen began his managerial career with IK Skovbakken and spent time as manager of Nordsjaelland, winning the Danish Cup with both sides and promotion to the Elitedivisionen with the latter.
Everton sit 10th in the WSL table on 18 points with their league status safe, as they are 13 points clear of bottom-placed Birmingham, who have four matches to play. The team will continue to be led by the former assistants Chris Roberts and Claire Ditchburn in the interim, following the sacking of first Willie Kirk in October after a slow start to the campaign and then his replacement, Jean-Luc Vasseur, in February.
Sørensen said: “I’m extremely excited to join Everton. It is one of the historic clubs in women’s football and our backgrounds fit nicely, with common values, work ethic and ambitions. Having studied the squad in depth during this process, I feel there is massive potential, with players capable of making an impact on the biggest stages.”
Everton Women’s managing director, Alan McTavish, who led on the recruitment process alongside the director of football, Kevin Thelwell, said: “We are delighted to welcome Brian to the club. Throughout the process to appoint a new manager there has been considerable interest in the role and after a great deal of consideration, we are confident we have found the best person to lead the team into next season and beyond.
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“Brian was the outstanding candidate from a very strong field, and he is a proven winner. His vision for the team, along with his ambition and drive to move Everton Women forward, impressed us throughout the interview process.”
