Gavin Levey has revealed that the Aberdeen Women manager vacancy will be advertised as a full-time position.
The job was originally advertised in December 2022, following co-managers Emma Hunter and Gavin Beith’s resignation, as a part-time 20-hour per-week role.
Levey has been in interim charge since their resignation, with the vacancy still unfilled.
Having experienced the demands of SWPL 1, with the Dons only confirming their place in the division for next season with a win over Dundee United on Wednesday night, Levey feels the women’s team now need to be guided by a full-time coach.
As academy director at the club, Levey will continue to oversee the running of the team when he leaves his position as interim manager at the end of the campaign.
‘We always have to look ahead’
He said: “I’ve put my succession plan together and that’s been updated. Similar to what we do in the men’s game, we always have to look ahead.
“I don’t want to be picking someone else’s team for next year. I want them to have a real input and we have to get that advert out any minute now.
“The paperwork is done and it’s been approved – the manager role will be a full-time role.
“We need to go out and get someone here who can build on this.
“They won’t just be the manager of the team. There will be a wider remit to it.
“Whoever comes into this role will be taking on a part-time team, but their role will be to manage the side, the performances and all the building blocks around that.
“We’ve been talking for a long time about the strategic objectives we’ve been working towards and now they’re starting to come to the surface.
“I’m very excited about it because when I said I’d take the team until the end of the season, this has been my personal vision for the role.
“I see the amount of effort it has taken.
“Before, it was split with co-managers and they did so much work away from the pitch too that people didn’t see. It’s a massive task.
“We’re in a positive place going forward and I’m excited to get someone in and I can share all my experiences and sessions with them.”
This time last year Aberdeen announced a historic move by putting five of their female players on paid contracts for the first time, and Levey believes bringing in a full-time coach is another marker of the progress being made at the club.
He added: “The pressures of the league are massive now. The standard is getting so much harder.
“This is a big step forward and a step in the right direction. You need time in here with this job and that’s what the role will get.”
Conversation