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

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 ...

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and former professional player, who mostly works in women's football. He has previously managed the Australia women's national team across three stints (1994–1997, 2005–2012 and 2024–2025), the United States women's national team from 2013 to 2014, the

Orlando Pride The Orlando Pride are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Orlando, Florida, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Pride began play in the 2016 National Women's Soccer League season, 2016 ...

of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

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

Playing career

Born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Sermanni played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

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

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently compete in the after winning the 2022–23 Scottish League One title. Dunfermline play at ...

, Canberra City and

Christchurch United Christchurch United Football Club is a Professionalism in association football, professional football club in Christchurch, New Zealand. They compete in various Mainland Football competitions at Junior and Senior level. The club has won six N ...

. His nephew

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

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.

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

In 2001 Sermanni was an assistant coach for the Bay Area CyberRays 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 Uni ...

(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. 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 Uniondale ...

(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 the Matildas are quarter-finalists at the

2007 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the fifth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was an international football competition for women held in China from 10 to 30 September 2007. Originally, China was to host the 2003 edition, but the outbreak o ...

and quarter-finalists at the

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 List of women's national association football teams, women's national association football, football teams. It was held from 26 June to ...

United States women's national team

On 30 October 2012, 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 soccer in the United States. It is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer ...

announced that starting 1 January 2013, Sermanni would be the head coach of the United States women's national team, ending his long-time association with Australia. Sermanni finished his first year as manager of USA unbeaten with 13 wins and 3 draws, including winning the 2013 Algarve Cup. At the 2014 Algarve Cup, the United States women did not win a game in group stage, and came seventh overall. This was the lowest the team had finished at the Algarve Cup, which the team had previously won nine times. This result put Sermanni's position under pressure, and on 6 April he was relieved of his coaching duties following a 2–0 'friendly' win over China.

Canada women's national team

In 2014 Sermanni joined the coaching staff of the Canada women's national team as a 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 f ...

National Women's Soccer League

On 20 October 2015,

Orlando City SC Orlando City Soccer Club is an American professional soccer club based in Orlando, Florida. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Owned by Zygi, Leonard, and Mark Wilf, it is the sister club of ...

announced the creation of a women's team

to join

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, 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's national team

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 officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Return to Australia

In March 2022, he was appointed as Head of Women's Football at

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, Wanderers, or simply as WSW) is an Australian professional association football club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in t ...

. In September 2024, Sermanni was re-appointed as interim head coach of the Australia women's national team whilst Football Australia searches for a permanent replacement for outgoing coach Tony Gustavsson. In May 2025 Sermanni coached his 150th game with the Matildas in their 2-0 defeat of

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in a friendly in Melbourne. On 2 June 2025,

Football Australia Football Australia is the sports governing body, governing body of Soccer in Australia, soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Au ...

announced the appointment of Joe Montemurro to succeed Sermanni as the permanent head coach of the Matildas.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manager

Australia * OFC Women's Championship:

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

* AFF Women's Championship:

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

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 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

United States *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 and ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

New Zealand * OFC Women's Nations Cup:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Individual

* AFC Coach of the Year: 2007 * ACT Sport Hall of Fame: 2012 (Associate Member)

References

External links

Tom Sermanni
at Aussie Footballers {{DEFAULTSORT:Sermanni, Tom 1954 births Living people Footballers from Glasgow Scottish men's 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 men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Men's 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 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 head coaches Orlando Pride head 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 Men's association football player-managers New Zealand women's national football team managers Women's United Soccer Association coaches Expatriate association football managers in New Zealand