Western Sydney Wanderers FC are proud to announce that Tom Sermanni has been appointed as the club’s Head of Women’s Football.
Sermanni, the club’s very first Head of Women’s Football, will oversee the Wanderers’ Liberty A-League side, development programs like the Future Wander Women program, and develop the club’s recruitment strategy.
A resume that speaks for itself, Sermanni’s career has spanned the globe having coached women’s football at all levels including the national teams of Australia, United States, Canada and New Zealand.
Sermanni has had two stints coaching the Matildas, from 1994-97 and again from 2005-2012, leading the side to a maiden continental title when he coached the Matildas to claim the 2010 AFC Women’s Asian Cup.
At a club level, Sermanni was head coach at National Women’s Soccer league sides New York Power and Orlando Pride, as well as being the assistant at San Jose CyberRays and Japanese side Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
Sermanni has been awarded a number accolades, leading his side to be crowned with the OFC Women’s Championship in 1994, AFF Women’s Championship in 2008, AFC Women’s Asian Cup in 2010, The Algarve Cup in 2013, OFC Women’s Nations Cup in 2018.
Individually, he was named the AFC Coach of the Year in 2007 and the ACT Sport Hall of Fame in 2012.
Western Sydney Wanderers General Manager Scott Hudson praised the appointment of Sermanni.
“We are proud to have Tom at the helm, overseeing our women’s programs at the Western Sydney Wanderers,” said Hudson.
“Tom has an extensive resume working with some of the giants of women’s football both internationally and domestically, and we welcome his knowledge, experience and passion as we lead into our next decade of football.
“We look forward to seeing Tom help build the foundations for our future.”
Wanderers Head of Women’s Football Tom Sermanni said he was delighted to help contribute to the Wanderers women’s football program.
“I’m excited, I look forward to be back involved in the game again. This is a great opportunity to try and build up and contribute to the women’s element of the club,” said Sermanni.
“Western Sydney is a hotbed for football and hopefully we can really build a strong women’s space here.
“I’ve been talking to people at the club for a while and the club is very ambitious. It is very ambitious to build its women’s program from the A-League Women all the way down and it really wants to make the women’s program a significant part of the club.”
The role will mark the Wanderers very first appointment of a Head of Women’s Football with Sermanni hoping to lay the foundations for generations to come.
“That’s what appeals to me. A project where you can actually start things out, start to build things. This is something that I really enjoy doing and the club is very ambitious in this space and hopefully I can help contribute to that,” explained Sermanni.
“I want to work on lots of things. If I put a list together, I’m very hands on and a very practical person. I want to get in there and get things done, it goes all way from helping strengthen and develop A-League Women’s team to actually looking at the future of the club.
“Hopefully, we get our club set-up in the women’s space the same as the men’s space where there is an Academy and pathway for young girls in Western Sydney to come all the way through from a young age, to actually then play in the A-League Women’s team and hopefully then go on to play for the Matildas.”
Sermanni also said he was looking forward to creating a new culture and environment leading into the new decade of the club.
“Players ultimately want to play somewhere where they feel that they belong, a culture of a club is all about people,” said Sermanni.
“Culture is about the people that work within the club and what your expectations are for the people that run the club, filtering that down to the expectations of the players that are coming through.
“We need to create an environment where players and staff want to be here, and that’s ultimately it.
“If you create that environment, then you start to build on that and that’s really critical.”
The Wanderers Women’s Football Program is proudly supported by Intermain, Komatsu, Western Sydney University and Mitsubishi Electric.
