Sunderland Women have Named Rehanne Skinner as their New Technical Director

Sunderland Women have announced the appointment of the very experienced Rehanne Skinner as Technical Director.

Her career has included roles as an international coach, assistant coach with the Lionesses, head coach in the WSL, and she was a key architect in building Leicester City Women into a competitive professional club.

She will lead all sporting and football operations of the WSL2 side, providing strategic and technical leadership to deliver long-term success. She will be responsible for defining and executing the club’s football vision, overseeing recruitment, aligning the first team and academy pathway, and creating a high-performance environment across all football functions.

Skinner told safc.com: “I’m incredibly excited to play a part in the next phase of this remarkable football club. Sunderland AFC Women is an institution with a proud history, passionate supporters, and enormous potential.

“I believe strongly in the project and the vision for the future and am thrilled to work alongside Kay and the Bay Collective team to build the structures, foundations and environment that will enable the club to get back to where it belongs and create sustained success for years to come.

“Throughout my career, I’ve worked with many players who have come from this region, and the talent pool here has historically been unrivalled. There is a huge opportunity to harness that talent and help bring back the glory days for Sunderland AFC Women.”

Kay Cossington, MBE, Chief Executive Officer of owners Bay Collective, welcomed Skinner’s arrival: “I am absolutely thrilled to welcome Rehanne to Sunderland AFC Women. She brings over 25 years of expertise from the very highest levels of the women’s game across professional and international environments, a deep understanding of what it takes to build performance environments that last, and a full alignment with how we believe this club should be built: sustainably, with the right foundations, and with real ambition for the future.

“To have someone of her calibre not only sharing that vision but ready to lead it on the ground is incredibly exciting, and I cannot wait to see what we build together here at Sunderland.”