Lydia Mary Bedford (born 2 September 1987) is an English professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach who is the manager of

Northern Super League The Northern Super League (NSL; ) is a Canada soccer league system#Women, top-division professional women's association football, women's soccer league in Canada. The league is owned and operated by Project 8 Sports, Inc., and includes six team ...

club

Calgary Wild FC Calgary Wild FC is a professional Women's association football, women's soccer club based in Calgary, Alberta, that competes in the Northern Super League, a league at the top of the women's Canadian soccer pyramid. History In December 2022, ...

Career

Bedford attended

Brunel University of London Brunel University of London (BUL) is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. It became a university ...

studying to be a physical education teacher. By her graduation, she had obtained her B Level coaching license and was coaching at the Middlesex Girls Centre of Excellence with the U17s and was also working with the Barnet Ladies senior team, in addition to starting work as a teacher. She obtained her A coaching license in 2014 and began working with the

English FA The Football Association (the FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and is responsibl ...

, where she eventually became the coach of the England U15, U16, and

U17 U17 or U-17 may refer to: Naval vessels * * , various vessels * , a submarine of the Austro-Hungarian Navy Other uses * Cessna U-17 Skywagon, an American utility aircraft * Nonconvex great rhombicuboctahedron In geometry, the nonconvex g ...

women's teams. She earned her

UEFA Pro Licence The UEFA coaching licences are documents testifying credentials of manager (association football), managers/ coach (sport), coaches among members of UEFA. The governing body for association football, football in Europe mandates several licences, e ...

in 2019. On 30 November 2021, Bedford was named the first team manager of Leicester City Women in the

Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

, effecting 6 December, for the remainder of the 2021-22 season. She led Leicester to their first top-flight win in her second match in charge, winning 2–0 over Birmingham City at home. In February 2022, she was named the

FA Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

Manager of the Month. In July 2022, after successfully keeping the team in the top division in 2021–22 season, she signed a new two-year deal with Leicester City Women. In November 2022, she was sacked by the club following a string of six consecutive losses. In February 2023, she joined

Arsenal Women Arsenal Women Football Club, commonly referred to as just Arsenal, is an English professional women's football club based in Islington, London, England. The club plays in the Women's Super League, the top tier of English women's football. A ...

as an assistant coach. She departed the club in June 2023. On 1 June 2023 she was appointed as new coach of Brentford U18 men's team, the first woman to coach at the level. In January 2025, Bedford was named the head coach of Canadian club

in the

Honours

Individual *

Manager of the Month:

February 2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedford, Lydia Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of Brunel University London English women's football managers Women's Super League managers Leicester City W.F.C. managers Arsenal W.F.C. non-playing staff Brentford F.C. non-playing staff Northern Super League head coaches English expatriate football managers Expatriate soccer coaches in Canada English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Sportspeople from Guildford