Hege Riise has been appointed as manager of Women’s Football Team for Team Great Britain at the delayed 2020 Olympics taking place in Tokyo this summer.
The interim England Lionesses Head Coach will combine this role with her ongoing duties for the Lionesses, as she takes charge of England again next month before the Home Nations unite in June to begin preparations as Team GB Women Football squad.
Speaking on her appointment, Riise spoke of how ‘enormously proud’ she is to be handed this opportunity to try and grow the game, commenting: “We will go there to give everything we have to be successful and I hope we can also use the power of the Games to help women’s football continue to grow in popularity.”
Like with the Lionesses, Riise will be assisted by Rhian Wilkinson following their successful partnership during February’s training camp and friendly win over Northern Ireland at St. George’s Park.
Riise and Wilkinson will be joined by another coach for the Olympics of which their identity will be announced within the coming weeks.
Pre-tournament preparations will see Team GB play an international friendly in the UK amongst other plans, with a partnership alongside the National Lottery providing training camps and travel plus logistics needs.
Speaking on the decision to appoint Riise as Team GB Manager, Baroness Sue Campbell – FA Director of Women’s Football said: “We could not have been more impressed with the impact that Hege and Rhian have had in such a short space of time with England Women, particularly during our recent international camp…”
Campbell also pointed to Riise’s experience as a gold medal winner with Norway at the 2000 Olympics and expertise in management as a huge positive, saying: “I am in no doubt that their Olympic experience and management expertise will provide the squad with the best possible opportunity to succeed at the Tokyo Games.”
On the National Lottery’s support at a time when the country is looking to get children back into grassroots support, Campbell commented that this is a chance to ‘be able to inspire countless numbers of young girls and boys just at a time when we need to lift the spirits and aspirations of youngsters to get involved in the grassroots game after a challenging year.’
Team GB will discover their opposition on 12 April 2021 when the draw for both the women’s and men’s tournaments are made in Tokyo, with 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup champions – USA and runner-ups, Netherlands amongst other nations already confirmed in the draw.
The tournament will be held between 21 July – 6 August 2021 in Tokyo and marks the first time that Team GB will appear in the competition since entering by virtue of hosting the 2012 editions, having qualified via England’s run to the final four at the 2019 Women’s World Cup.
The 18-woman squad will be compromised of players chosen across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
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