Five reasons why Bev Priestman could be the next Phoenix coach

After failing to make the A-League Women finals for the fourth straight season, the Wellington Phoenix have elected to move on from current coach Paul Temple.

Temple, who was out of contract at the end of the season, was not offered a new contract by the club, and will depart after having joined in 2016 as a youth team coach.

It leaves the club in a tricky situation, where they need a new coach, but no obvious candidate leaps off the page as an option.

There are plenty of NPL coaches who are deserving of an opportunity, and Perth Glory just showed what can happen under a former NPL coach with a fit squad, as former Macarthur Rams coach Stephen Peters led his side to a tilt at finals despite dealing with an injury crisis at the Glory.

Or you could look at former Sydney University coach Emily Husband, who became the Central Coast Mariners coach upon their re-introduction to the competition, and was one game away from the Grand Final last year, and will be making a tilt this year at the Championship.

But one name which does some-what stand out is someone not currently coaching. Bev Priestman.

Yes, the former Canada Women’s Team coach, who was initially suspended by Canada Soccer, before then being handed a 12-month suspension from all football related activities by FIFA after the drone spying scandal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. That Bev Priestman.

Statement: Suspension of Bev Priestman

— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) July 26, 2024

In a Stuff.co.nz article, Wellington Phoenix’s director of football Shaun Gill is quoted as saying the club “would be silly not to consider it” if Priestman was interested in the role, noting she is a quality coach.

With the A-League Women players of all teams not currently on 12-month long contracts yet (player contracts are only 35 weeks in length for the remainder of the current CBA, which expires following the 2025/26 season), the Phoenix have plenty of time to find their new coach before pre-season begins.

So conceivably, they could wait out Priestman’s ban, which ends in late July, before hiring the former coach.

But why would the Phoenix want to hire her in the first place?

It’s a fair question to ask, but in that same Stuff article, Gill is also quoted as saying that they want a coach who can take the side to the next level, and Priestman would fit that bill.

The club demands success

Having entered the league in the midst of COVID-19 impacted seasons, the Phoenix were going to be up against it from the start, and they were.

Achieving just two wins in the inaugural season and three in their second season (both of which they were based in Wollongong, NSW), before a nine win third season (their first in New Zealand), all of which had different head coaches and starting goalkeepers, it has not been easy for the most recent expansion side in the competition to develop success.

At the start of the 2024/25 season, the club maintained some semblance of continuity in the coaching department, keeping Temple around for a second season, but he had to deal with another new starting goalkeeper as well, and it was clear from the start that the club wanted a finals appearance as a pass-mark for the season.

A history of success

Rightly or wrongly, you can not deny that Priestman has a history of it.

Having mixed-success at the age group level for Canada, she took the senior side to a Gold Medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and the group stage results in 2024 suggested a repeat could have been on the cards.

During her tenure, there were also player disputes with the federation, a some-what aging roster, and a disappointing Women’s World Cup exit in 2023, and they were unable to beat the USA in the 2022 and 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup.

Despite those failures, a Gold Medal is a Gold Medal, and her overall record saw her guide Canada to 45 results (30 wins, 15 draws) in 56 matches (53.37 per cent win rate).

If the club wants success, you could do a lot worse than a coach who knows how to get results in a league where results are an absolute must.

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Youth team experience

The A-League Women is a league (much like its male counterpart in recent seasons) that skews towards the younger side.

Having coached Canada’s U-17 and U-20 sides, Priestman knows how to deal with younger players and develop them, which is crucial in a salary-capped league.

Whilst she did not have trophy success with the two sides, the development of the players is perhaps more crucial, and age-group programs are not always necessarily judged by clubs or federations in terms of trophies, so this might not count against her.

Travel experience

Being based in New Zealand, the travel the side has to do can not be understated. Having been a former national team coach, travel is a massive part of the schedule, and one she is well experienced in.

Being able to help the players deal with the rigorous demands of international travel from personal experience as a national team coach and the demands placed on those players can only help the side, particularly the younger players who might not be used to it.

Nepotism

A rather cynical reason, but it is a necessary one to cover.

Priestman’s wife Emma Humphries, who coached Canada’s U-17 team from 2021 to 2024, is now the Academy Director at the Wellington Phoenix and might have a say on who the next coach should be.

Given the couple have worked together before, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that this would happen, and it would allow the two to live and stay together in Wellington with their son.

Whilst Priestman’s resume speaks for itself and she would definitely deserve the job on merit for her success, having an extra foot in the door who can help speak for you and perhaps influence the hiring process never hurts one’s chances.

The Phoenix will undoubtedly go through a thorough hiring process and look at a wide variety of coaches to help take them to the next level in the wake of Temple’s departure, but they could do a lot worse than Priestman for the role, even if it may not be a popular option with the fans.

It would not be the first time an A-Leagues side has hired a coach or signed a player that is highly unpopular with fans for a variety of different reasons, or has a questionable character, and regardless of whether Priestman is hired, it won’t be the last.