Laura Harvey (born 15 May 1980) is an English football

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and former player who currently manages

OL Reign OL Reign is an American professional women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, ...

of the American National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She holds USSF "A" and UEFA "A" coaching licenses. Harvey previously managed the

United States women's national under-20 soccer team The United States U-20 women's national soccer team is a youth soccer team operated under the auspices of U.S. Soccer. Its primary role is the development of players in preparation for the senior women's national team. The team most recently ...

Utah Royals FC Utah Royals FC was an American women's professional soccer club based in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy, Utah. Established on November 16, 2017, as an expansion club, the Royals played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) from 2018 ...

, Arsenal, and

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

. She was also an assistant with the

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four Women's World Cup titles ( 1991, 1999, 2015, an ...

and involved with the youth set-up of

England women's national football team The England women's national football team, also known as the Lionesses, have been governed by the Football Association (FA) since 1993, having been previously administered by the Women's Football Association (WFA). England played its first i ...

. Harvey was named FAWSL Coach of the Year in 2011 after guiding Arsenal to win the league title, FA Cup, and Continental Cup. She was named NWSL Coach of the Year in 2014, 2015, and 2021.

Personal life

Harvey grew up in

Bulkington Bulkington is a large village and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Bedworth, in the Nuneaton and Bedworth district of Warwickshire, England.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : In the 2011 census the wa ...

, a village in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

, England. She attended The George Eliot School in Nuneaton. Her father was a football coach who worked for The Football Association (FA) and

Coventry City F.C. Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed th ...

during her childhood. She began playing football at a young age. As a teenager, Harvey played for the Coventry City L.F.C. for six years. Harvey graduated from the

University of Wolverhampton The University of Wolverhampton is a public university located on four campuses across the West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire in England. The roots of the university lie in the Wolverhampton Tradesmen's and Mechanics' Institute founde ...

with a bachelor's degree in Sports Studies.

Playing career

At age 22, Harvey ruptured her ACL while playing for

; she subsequently retired from playing. She previously played for Wolverhampton Wanderers W.F.C.

Managerial career

Club

Birmingham City Ladies, 2002–2007

Harvey was named assistant coach for Birmingham City L.F.C. in 2002. In 2007, she was named team manager.

Arsenal LFC, 2008–2012

In 2008, Harvey joined Arsenal L.F.C. as its first team coach. The following year, she was hired full-time as Assistant Academy Director and Reserve Team Manager.

In February 2010, Harvey was hired to replace

Tony Gervaise Tony Gervaise (born 10 May 1955, in Paisley) is a Scottish association football former player turned women's football coach. He is a former manager of Arsenal Ladies, having succeeded Vic Akers in 2009. Career Gervaise played as a left back, ...

as manager for the Arsenal L.F.C. Of her hiring, Harvey said, "It's a really proud moment for me. In women's football, especially domestically, it doesn't come any bigger than Arsenal. When you set out to coach and you know this is your dream and your love, you want to make it the best it can possibly be and in my eyes it doesn't get much bigger than this." In 2011, Harvey was named FAWSL coach of the year after guiding the team to win the league title, FA Cup, and Continental Cup. She finished her tenure with Arsenal in 2012 having led the team to three consecutive league titles, two Continental Cups, and one

FA Women's Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reas ...

Seattle Reign FC, 2013–2017

On 21 December 2012, Harvey was named head coach of

Seattle Reign FC OL Reign is an American professional women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, ...

for the inaugural season of the National Women's Soccer League, a new professional league in the United States. The Reign faced a tough first half of the season and went 0–9–1 in their first ten games after all three of their American allocated players were unavailable:

Hope Solo Hope Amelia Stevens (; born July 30, 1981) is an American former soccer goalkeeper. She was a goalkeeper for the United States women's national soccer team from 2000 to 2016, and is a World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist. Afte ...

was out for wrist surgery and recovery,

Amy Rodriguez Amy Joy Rodriguez Shilling (; born February 17, 1987) is an American retired professional soccer player who last played as a forward for North Carolina Courage in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She previously played for NWSL teams ...

was out for the season due to pregnancy, and

Megan Rapinoe Megan Anna Rapinoe (; born July 5, 1985) is an American professional Association football, soccer player who plays as a Midfielder#Winger, winger and captains OL Reign of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), as well as the United States ...

was returning mid-season after a six-month stint for Olympique Lyonnais. With the return of Solo, Rapinoe, and some additional lineup changes made during the early summer, the Reign turned their regular season record around and finished the season in seventh place with a 5–14–3 record. In August 2013, Harvey signed a contract extension with the Reign through 2017. She left the club in November 2017. Jessfishlock lauraharvey

During the 2014 season, Harvey led the Reign to set a league record unbeaten streak of 16 games during the first part of the season. During the 16 game stretch, the team compiled a 13–0–3 record. The Reign finished first in the regular season clinching the

NWSL Shield The NWSL Shield is an annual award given to the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team with the best regular season record as determined by the NWSL points system. The NWSL Shield has been awarded annually since 2013 and is recognized as a ...

for the first time. After defeating the

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit is an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area that participates in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the W-League and cont ...

2–1 in the playoff semi-finals, the Reign were defeated 2–1 by FC Kansas City during the championship final. Following the regular season, Harvey was named the league's

Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

. In December 2014, she was named FA Coach of the Year by the FA, and was a finalist for the

FIFA World Coach of the Year The FIFA World Coach of the Year was an association football award given annually to the football coach who is considered to have performed the best in the previous 12 months. It was awarded based on votes from coaches and captains of internatio ...

. During the 2015 season, Harvey led the Reign to finish first in the regular season clinching the

for the second consecutive season. After defeating the

3–0 in a playoff semi-final, the Reign were defeated 1–0 by FC Kansas City during the championship final in Portland. Following the 2015 regular season, Harvey was named the league's

for the second consecutive time. Harvey's Reign FC teams missed the playoffs in 2016 and 2017. On 7 November 2017, the Reign announced that Harvey had stepped down as head coach and general manager, and that the team had hired FC Kansas City coach

Vlatko Andonovski Vlatko Andonovski ( mk, Влатко Андоновски; born 14 September 1976) is a Macedonian-American soccer coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of the United States women's national team. Andonovski previously coach ...

, who had defeated Harvey's Reign FC teams in the 2014 and 2015 NWSL championship matches, on her recommendation.

Utah Royals FC, 2018–2019

On 27 November 2017,

announced Harvey as their head coach.

OL Reign, 2021–

Harvey will return to

as head coach, where she previously coached from 2013 to 2017, after the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

in August 2021.

International

From 2005–2011, Harvey served as assistant coach for the England women's national football team at the U-17, U-19 and U-23 levels. Harvey was named as coach of the U-23

USWNT The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four Women's World Cup titles (1991, 1999, 2015, a ...

for a tournament in Spring 2017, after coaching them through a January camp. She reportedly took on an expanded role with the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

following her exit from the Seattle Reign FC organization. From January 2020 to July 2021, Harvey was the head coach of the

; she also served as an assistant coach of the

Managerial honours

Arsenal * FA Women's Premier League: 2009–10 *

FA Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features ...

: 2011,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

FA Women's League Cup The FA Women's League Cup is a league cup competition in English women's association football. The competition was originally open to the eight teams in the FA WSL, but since the WSL's restructuring to two divisions, it has featured 23 teams. Pri ...

: 2011, 2012 *

Women's FA Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship rea ...

: 2011 OL Reign *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, 2015,

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

The Women's Cup The Women's Cup is an annual club women's soccer invitational tournament hosted by Racing Louisville FC in the United States. History Launched by OnSide Entertainment, FXE Futbol, and Agrinzonis Management Group in 2021, it currently features si ...

United States U-20 *

CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship The CONCACAF Women's Under-20 Championship is an association football competition for women's national under-20 teams in the North America, Central America and Caribbean region. It serves as the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 Women's ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

Individual * NWSL Coach of the Year: 2014, 2015, 2021 * FA Coach of the Year: 2014 * FA Pro Game Female Elite Coach of the Year: 2014 * FA WSL Coach of the Year: 2011

References

External links

Arsenal coach profile (archived)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Laura 1980 births Living people OL Reign coaches National Women's Soccer League coaches Arsenal W.F.C. managers Birmingham City W.F.C. players Women's Super League managers English women's football managers Alumni of the University of Wolverhampton Women's association football midfielders English women's footballers Wolverhampton Wanderers W.F.C. players Utah Royals FC coaches