Mark Parsons has resigned as manager of Netherlands Women following an internal review of their 2022 UEFA Women’s Euro campaign.
Parsons replaced Sarina Wiegman as manager of the Netherlands National Women’s Team following her departure to become England manager – which saw her guide the Lionesses to Euro glory and become the first manager to win consecutive Women’s Euro with two separate host nations.
Netherlands however scraped through as Group C runners-up behind Sweden but saw their title defence ended at the Quarter-Finals stage, following an extra-time defeat against France which ended the Les Bleues’ decade-long wait for a first semi-final appearance since 2012 Olympics.
Dutch Football Federation – KNVB consequently decided to hold a review into the team’s progress which found ‘too little confidence’ that their ambitions would be realised under Parsons’ leadership with the English manager consequently resigning from his role with mutual agreement.
KNVB Women’s Football Director, Jan Dirk van der Zee proceeded to issue the following statement on Parsons’ departure: “In the run-up to and at the European Championships, both the displayed game and the results were disappointing and we cannot afford that.
“Set the bar high. The Netherlands was the defending champion and also finalist at the last World Cup, we want to compete for the prizes. In view of the current World Cup qualifying series, it has been decided that someone else will be at the helm in the very short term.”
Van der Zee also noted that the decision to part company with Parsons was “not a nice decision, but that is also part of top football.”
Parsons however received praise for his role in helping scout and coach new senior talent like Daphne van Domselaar, Damaris Egurrola and Romée Leuchter, who have all gained first-team experience under his regime.
Van der Zee however added that because the Netherlands had experienced “an insanely strong period” under Wiegman in recent years with 2017 UEFA Women’s Euro success and finishing runner-up at 2019 FIFA World Cup, this past year had been about laying “foundation for new successes.”
Netherlands though are yet to secure qualification for 2023 FIFA World Cup and will enter their final Qualifying Group C match on 6 September, in need of a win over Iceland to book their place at the Finals tournament in Australia and New Zealand next summer.
Iceland though could enter that crunch final clash sat one point ahead of the Dutch if they beat Belarus in their penultimate match on 2 September, knowing that anything other than defeat in Utrecht, Netherlands, would see them qualify and Netherlands need a play-off instead.
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