Lydia Bedford will take up one of the most senior roles held by a woman in men's football after being appointed the under-18s head coach of Brentford FC. 

Bedford joins from Arsenal Women, where she was the assistant head coach to Jonas Eidevall, having previously been the manager of Leicester City Women between November 2021 and November 2022, where she won the WSL Manager of the Month award for February 2022. 

According to the BBC, Bedford becomes the first woman to take up a coaching role with a Premier League club and no senior men's side in England has ever been managed by a woman. 

Brentford FC director of football Phil Giles said in a statement: "I'm really pleased that we've managed to attract such talented coaches as Lydia and Jon-Paul to our under-18 team for next year.  

"It's an important time for the under-18 team as next season will be the first where they've operated out of the Robert Rowan Performance Centre and integrating them smoothly alongside the first team and B team will be essential. 

"We undertook an extensive recruitment process for these roles. Lydia and Jon-Paul were the two best candidates, and thankfully we were able to finalise their recruitment to the staff. I'm sure they will excel, and we all look forward to working with them through pre-season and beyond." 

She will work alongside Jon-Paul Pittman, who joins as the assistant head coach, having previously worked in the youth set-up at Forest Green Rovers. 

Prior to becoming head coach at Leicester, Bedford worked with the FA in helping to coach the England Women's youth sides and obtained her UEFA Pro Licence in 2019.