Marc Skinner

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Marc Skinner
Skinner in 2022
Personal information
Date of birth (1983-03-23) 23 March 1983 (age 41)
Team information
Current team
Manchester United Women (head coach)
Managerial career
Years Team
2013–2016 Solihull College (youth)
2015–2016 Birmingham City Women (youth)
2016–2019 Birmingham City Women
2019–2021 Orlando Pride
2021– Manchester United Women

Marc Skinner (born 23 March 1983) is an English professional football coach who is the head coach of Manchester United Women in the FA Women's Super League.

Having been involved with their youth set-up, Skinner went on to manage the Birmingham City Women first team before moving to the United States to manage Orlando Pride in the NWSL. He holds a UEFA A Licence.[1]

Coaching career[edit]

Solihull College[edit]

Formerly a teacher, Skinner was football academy manager at Solihull College which opened a ladies-only academy and regional talent hub linked to professional team Birmingham City in 2013.[2]

Birmingham City[edit]

Skinner had held various roles at Birmingham City since 2006 including technical director, reserve team head coach and first-team goalkeeping coach. In December 2016, he was promoted to the position of head coach of the first team.[3] Upon the appointment he said "Since I found out I haven’t stopped smiling, this club is deep in my heart. I am extremely proud to lead this fantastic team and I am hoping to continue the success there already been in the past." The FA WSL was in the middle of a switch to the traditional autumn-to-spring calendar and, as a result, Skinner's first campaign was the shortened 8-game Spring Series from February–May 2017 where Birmingham finished 7th. The team also made the FA Cup final.[4] The Blues improved to a 5th-place finish in the 2017–18 season.

Upon his departure in January 2019, Skinner's Birmingham side sat 4th in the WSL table. He was credited with turning around the Blues’ style of play - creating a well-organized and defensively sound system while implementing a dominant attacking style on a small budget compared to Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea who were above them.[5]

Orlando Pride[edit]

On 14 January 2019, Skinner was announced as head coach of Orlando Pride, a team he called "one of the biggest clubs in the world."[5] He became the team's second ever head coach following the departure of Tom Sermanni at the end of 2018. After a difficult start having failed to win any of his opening nine games, Skinner earned his first win as Orlando head coach on 22 June in a 2–1 victory over Sky Blue FC.[6] In his debut campaign, Orlando finished bottom of the league with a franchise record-low 16 points.[7] With the 2020 season disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Orlando Pride saw their schedule reduced to four Fall Series matches. The team failed to win any of them but notably ended the series in dramatic fashion with a second-half comeback from three goals down to tie with North Carolina Courage.[8] After finishing third of five teams in the group stage of the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup, Orlando picked up 15 points in seven games during an unbeaten start to the regular season, the longest unbeaten start in club history.[9] Combined with the two unbeaten games at the end of the Challenge Cup, the nine game streak matched Orlando's record all-time unbeaten run in all competitions set in October 2017. He stepped down on 23 July 2021, amid reports he had agreed terms with Manchester United.[10][11]

Manchester United[edit]

On 29 July 2021, Skinner returned to the FA WSL to become the second head coach of Manchester United, taking over from Casey Stoney following her resignation in May 2021. He signed a two-year contract with the option for a third.[12][13]

Personal life[edit]

Skinner is in a long-term relationship with former England international defender Laura Bassett having met while both coaching for Birmingham's U-14s team.[14] Their daughter, Saede, was born in December 2018.[15]

Managerial statistics[edit]

All competitive games (league and domestic cups) are included.

As of 23 March 2024
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nation From To Record
P W D L GF GA GD Win %
Birmingham City W.F.C.  England 14 December 2016 13 January 2019 54 26 11 17 76 51 +25 048.15
Orlando Pride  United States 14 January 2019 23 July 2021 43 9 12 22 46 77 −31 020.93
Manchester United W.F.C.  England 29 July 2021 present 87 54 17 16 199 86 +113 062.07
Career totals 184 89 40 55 321 214 +107 048.37

Honours[edit]

Birmingham City

Manchester United

Individual

References[edit]

  1. ^ "League Managers Association - MARC SKINNER". www.leaguemanagers.com. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Blues link with Solihull College". www.birminghamcityladiesfc.co.uk. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  3. ^ "MARC SKINNER APPOINTED MANAGER". www.birminghamcityladiesfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 January 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  4. ^ "Women's FA Cup final: Birmingham City 1-4 Manchester City". 13 May 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Orlando Pride Appoints Marc Skinner as Head Coach Ahead of 2019 NWSL Season". 14 January 2019.
  6. ^ "Sky Blue FC vs. Orlando Pride". www.nwslsoccer.com.
  7. ^ "2019 NWSL season review: Orlando Pride". VAVEL. 26 November 2019.
  8. ^ "NWSL Fall Series: Orlando Pride storm back from three-goal deficit to draw North Carolina Courage". CBSSports.com.
  9. ^ Poe, Julia. "Sydney Leroux powers unbeaten Orlando Pride to road win in Kansas City". Orlando Sentinel.
  10. ^ "Marc Skinner Steps Down as Orlando Pride Head Coach". www.orlandocitysc.com.
  11. ^ "Man Utd agree terms with Orlando boss Skinner". BBC Sport.
  12. ^ "Marc Skinner appointed as United Women head coach". Manchester United (Press release). 29 July 2021.
  13. ^ "Man Utd appoint Skinner as head coach of women's side". BBC Sport.
  14. ^ Moore, Glenn (6 June 2017). "Laura Bassett is without a club but she doesn't want to play for her partner". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  15. ^ Bassett, Laura. "Laura Bassett tweets birth announcement". Twitter.
  16. ^ Steinberg, Jacob (13 May 2017). "Women's Cup final: Carli Lloyd strikes as Manchester City beat Birmingham". The Guardian.
  17. ^ Wrack, Suzanne (14 May 2023). "Chelsea claim FA Cup hat-trick after Sam Kerr sees off Manchester United". The Guardian.
  18. ^ "Marc Skinner and Ella Toone: Manchester United duo win Women's Super League awards for December". Sky Sports. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Man Utd forward Leah Galton and manager Marc Skinner win monthly award". Sky Sports. 10 February 2022.
  20. ^ Spencer, Jamie (10 November 2022). "Marc Skinner named Barclays WSL Manager of the Month for October". 90min.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  21. ^ Spencer, Jamie (12 January 2023). "Man Utd land Barclays WSL player & manager awards for December". 90min.com. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  22. ^ "Skinner named WSL Manager of the Month". www.manutd.com.