Thomas Dorby Sermanni (born 1 July 1954) is a Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

coach and former professional player, who mostly works in women's football. He has previously managed the Australia women's national team, the United States women's national team from 2013 to 2014, the

Orlando Pride The Orlando Pride is a professional women's soccer team based in Orlando, Florida. The team joined the National Women's Soccer League, the top level of women's soccer in the US, for the 2016 season. It became the tenth team to be added to th ...

of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federati ...

from 2016 to 2018, and the New Zealand women's national team from 2018 to 2021.

Playing career

Born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

, Sermanni played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

in Scotland, England, Australia and New Zealand for Cumbernauld United,

Albion Rovers Albion Rovers Football Club is a semi-professional football team from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of the Scott ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and is ...

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nickna ...

, Dunfermline Athletic, Canberra City and

Christchurch United Christchurch United is an amateur association football club in Christchurch, New Zealand. They compete in various Mainland Football competitions at Junior and Senior level. The club has won six National League titles and six Chatham Cup troph ...

. His nephew Peter was also a footballer who later moved to Australia.

Coaching career

Australian clubs

Sermanni has coached a number of Australian club sides, including Canberra Metros and

Canberra Cosmos Canberra Cosmos Football Club was an Australian soccer club based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. It participated in the National Soccer League from the 1995/96 season until the end of the 2000/01 season, after which it folded, primar ...

Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), 2001–2003

In 2001 Sermanni was an assistant coach for the

Bay Area CyberRays San Jose CyberRays was a professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Spartan Stadium on the South Campus of San José State University in San Jose, California. Stars included U.S. National ...

of the

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Un ...

(WUSA). The CyberRays won the league's inaugural championship, the Founders Cup. He remained an assistant coach in 2002 when the team changed its name to the

San Jose CyberRays San Jose CyberRays was a professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Spartan Stadium on the South Campus of San José State University in San Jose, California. Stars included U.S. National ...

. In 2003, he was hired as head coach of the

New York Power The New York Power was an American professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), the first professional soccer league for women in the United States. The team played at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Unionda ...

(WUSA), who had fired their previous coach after finishing their 2002 season with a dismal record of 3 wins, 17 losses, and 1 draw (10 pts). With Sermanni as their coach, the team improved to finish the 2003 season in fifth place with a record of 7 wins, 9 losses and 5 draws, or 26 points.

Australia women's national team

Sermanni took up a job as coach of Australia women in December 2004, having previously also coached the team between 1994 and 1997. Among his accomplishments as coach of Australia women, are quarter-finals at

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

and

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the event ...

United States women's national team

On 30 October 2012, US Soccer Federation announced that starting 1 January 2013, Sermanni would be the head coach of 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 ...

, ending his long-time association with Australia. Sermanni finished his first year as manager of USA unbeaten with 13 wins and 3 draws. The 3 draws are 1–1 against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

at the

Algarve Cup The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious an ...

, and 2 friendlies, 3–3 with

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, and 1–1 with

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

. For the second time the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

posted an unbeaten record in a year that featured a double-digit number of matches. In addition, the team won the

2013 Algarve Cup The 2013 Algarve Cup was the twentieth edition of the Algarve Cup, an annual invitational women's football tournament hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Teams The following teams were taking part. There were no debutantes, as al ...

. The United States women started 2014 with friendlies, under Sermanni, a 1–0 win over

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, and 7–0 and 8–0 drubbings of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

. At the 2014 Algarve Cup, the United States women did not win a game in group stage: 1–1 with

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, 0–1 loss to Sweden and a 3–5 loss to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. The team finished seventh with a 3–0 win over Korea DPR, the lowest the team had finished at the Algarve Cup, which the team had won 9 times. On 6 April 2014, Sermanni was relieved of his coaching duties following a 2–0 win over China in an international friendly.

Canada women's national team

In 2014 Sermanni joined

Canada women's national soccer team The Canada women's national soccer team (french: Équipe du Canada féminine de soccer) represents Canada in international soccer competitions. They are overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association, the governing body for soccer in Canada. The ...

's coaching staff as technical consultant. Sermanni was on contract as an assistant coach to Canada during

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...

National Women's Soccer League

On 20 October 2015,

Orlando City Soccer Club Orlando City SC is an American professional soccer club in Orlando, Florida, that competes as a member of the Eastern Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). Orlando City SC began play in 2015 as the 21st franchise in MLS, succeeding the USL ...

announced the creation of a women's team

to join

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

, and Sermanni would be the first coach for the expansion club. On 14 September 2018 after a disappointing 2018 season where the Orlando Pride finished in 7th place, Sermanni and the Orlando Pride mutually parted ways. Sermanni had a record of 24–29–14 in 3 seasons in Orlando and qualified for the playoffs in 2017.

New Zealand women

On 26 October 2018, Sermanni was appointed the new head coach of New Zealand women's team. He was released after

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 ...

Honours

Manager

;Australia *

OFC Women's Championship The OFC Women's Nations Cup (previously known as the OFC Women's Championship) is a women's association football tournament for national teams who belong to the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). It was held every three years from 1983 to 1989. ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

* AFF Women's Championship:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

AFC Women's Asian Cup The AFC Women's Asian Cup (formerly known as the AFC Women's Championship) is a quadrennial competition in women's football for national teams which belong to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is the oldest women's international football ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

;United States *The

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

;New Zealand *

OFC Women's Nations Cup The OFC Women's Nations Cup (previously known as the OFC Women's Championship) is a women's association football tournament for national teams who belong to the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). It was held every three years from 1983 to 1989. ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Individual

AFC Coach of the Year The National Football League Coach of the Year Award is presented annually by various news and sports organizations to the National Football League (NFL) head coach who has done the most outstanding job of working with the talent he has at his disp ...

: 2007 * ACT Sport Hall of Fame: 2012 (Associate Member)

References

;Match reports

External links

Tom Sermanni
at Aussie Footballers {{DEFAULTSORT:Sermanni, Tom 1954 births Living people Footballers from Glasgow Scottish footballers Scottish football managers Cumbernauld United F.C. players Albion Rovers F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players National Soccer League (Australia) players Scottish expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in Australia Association football midfielders Scottish expatriate football managers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Australia Scottish expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate association footballers in New Zealand 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup managers 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup managers 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup managers United States women's national soccer team managers Australian Institute of Sport coaches National Women's Soccer League coaches Orlando Pride coaches Canberra City FC players 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup managers Scottish emigrants to Australia Scottish people of Italian descent Scottish Junior Football Association players Australia women's national soccer team managers Association football player-managers New Zealand women's national football team managers Women's United Soccer Association coaches