Arsenal women have named Renee Slegers as their permanent head coach after she impressed during her three-month spell in interim charge of the team.
The 35-year-old, who was previously an assistant coach at the club, took over from Jonas Eidevall in October after he resigned following a poor run of form.
“I’m so excited to be continuing our journey together.” Slegers said in a statement. “It’s a wonderful honour to represent this club as head coach and I have so much belief in what we can all achieve together.
“Over the past few months, I’ve felt such a powerful sense of collective ownership and responsibility across our players and staff — that has been our strength and I know we will make sure we drive and nurture this feeling as we all move forward.
“It has meant the world to me to feel the closeness and passion of our supporters during this process, and I want to thank you all for that. We want to deliver something beautiful that’s inspiring and leads to winning trophies. We all have a big part to play in achieving that.”
Since Slegers’ appointment as interim head coach on Oct. 15, Arsenal remained unbeaten, recording 10 wins from 11 matches in the Women’s Super League (WSL).
As a player, Slegers spent time in Arsenal’s academy before embarking on a career in Sweden and her native Netherlands. She racked up 55 caps for her country before embarking on a coaching career.
Clare Wheatley, the club’s director of women’s football, said: “We’re delighted to appoint Renée as our permanent head coach. Renée has excelled during her time as interim head coach, bringing our team, club and supporters together and leading us to a hugely impressive run of results and performances.
“We have undertaken a thorough recruitment process aimed at identifying the best candidate to lead our women’s first team at this exciting time. Renée was the stand-out candidate throughout the process and we’re thrilled to be continuing our journey with her as our permanent head coach.”
Arsenal, who are seven points behind league leaders Chelsea in the WSL, host Crystal Palace in their next fixture on Sunday.