CanWNT coach Stoney adds three full-time assistants to her staff

Canada women's soccer coach Casey Stoney has added Natalie Henderson, Neil Wood and Ian Willcock as full-time members of her coaching staff.

The three join performance analyst Yianni Michelis on Stoney's staff. Wood was a member of former coach Bev Priestman's staff at the Paris Olympics

Henderson, a native of Newcastle, England, most recently was head coach of England’s women's under-17 team and a lead coach at Newcastle United’s men's academy. In 2017, she received the Premier League’s Eamonn Dolan Award after becoming the first female coach to graduate from the Premier League’s Elite Coaching Apprenticeship Scheme (ECAS).

Willcock worked with Stoney when she coached the Manchester United women. A native of Bury, England, Willcock spent six seasons with the United women, where he worked with England goalkeeper Mary Earps before she moved to Paris Saint-Germain.

He is due to join Canada Soccer at the end of the 2024-25 season. 

Wood, also from Bury, transitions into a full-time role with Canada Soccer. He worked at the Manchester United academy from under-13 through to under 23-level before leaving in 2022 to become manager of Salford City, a team in England's third-tier owned by a. group of former Manchester United star players.

Wood left Salford in December 2023,

“I’m delighted to welcome Natalie, Neil, and Ian to our coaching team," Stoney said in a statement. "Each of them brings a wealth of experience, passion, and fresh perspective that will be invaluable as we continue building on the winning culture the Canadian program has established.

"This will be a collective effort — one team, one vision — and we’re all committed to pushing forward with real intent as we set our sights on becoming genuine World Cup contenders.”

Stoney, a former England captain, was named Canada coach in January. She succeeded Bev Priestman, who left the job in the wake of a one-year ban from FIFA over the Paris Olympics drone spying scandal.

Assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joey Lombardi also left the program and were banned for a year.

Andy Spence, another assistant who took over the team in Paris after Priestman's exit, joined the NWSL's Gotham FC in March as assistant head coach.

Jen Herst, who was goalkeeping and set plays coach under Priestman, is no longer with the women's team but remains a Canada Soccer coach and "is in consideration for other senior roles," according to a Canada Soccer spokesman.

Spence, Herst and Wood worked with Stoney in her first games at Canada's helm. 

Canada's next matches are friendlies against Haiti on May 31 and June 3 in Winnipeg and Montreal, respectively. 

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2025.