Former Everton manager Brian Sorensen, currently a technical director with Aston Villa’s women’s team, is set to become Republic of Ireland head coach Carla Ward’s third assistant in just over a year. The 46-year-old Dane succeeds Gary Cronin who stepped down from the role in August after just six games.
Sorensen had extensive experience managing women’s teams in his native Denmark before being appointed Everton manager in 2022. He left the club in February of this year after a poor start to their WSL season which saw them win just three of their 14 games.
Sorensen is due to link up with the Irish set-up ahead of next month’s World Cup qualifying home and away playoff against Kazakhstan. If Ireland come through that successfully they will play Belgium or Poland in the final qualifying phase for next summer’s World Cup in Brazil.
Ward has struggled to hold on to her assistants since her appointment as Ireland head coach in January of last year, Cronin having taken over from Alan Mahon – now working with Denver Summit in the NWSL – who resigned last December after just 11 months in the job.