Aston Villa manager Carla Ward is set to take a break from football after deciding to leave the Women’s Super Leaguethe club at the end of the season.
It is understood that leaving is her decision, and Ward, 40, now wants to take a significant amount of time away from work to recharge and spend more time with her family.
The former Sheffield United and Birmingham City manager has been at Villa for three seasons and led them to ninth place in 2021-22 and fifth place in 2022-23 – the club’s highest league position in women’s football.
This season, Villa sit in a respectable seventh place with two games remaining in the WSL. The first of these is Saturday’s trip to eighth-placed Brighton, and Ward’s last game in charge will be at home to Manchester City in search of the title on Saturday, May 18th.
“Resigning from my role here at Aston Villa has been the most difficult decision of my managerial career, but I know it is the right decision for my family and me,” said Ward. “Managing a big club like Aston Villa has been a full-fledged job and I have always dedicated 100 percent to the role. However, I now believe the time is right to prioritize other important things – like my daughter and the rest of my family life.
“I am immensely grateful to Monchi [Villa’s president of football operations] and Damian Vidagany [director of football] who has tried so hard to encourage me to stay in the role, but I know the time is right for me to step down after our last game of the season.
Monchi said: “Carla came to us a few weeks ago and spoke about her plan to resign. We had extensive dialogue with her to see if there was anything we could do to convince her to stay, but she is adamant that she wants to take a break from gambling. On behalf of everyone at Aston Villa, I would like to record our thanks to Carla [and] I wish you good luck for the future.
Telegraph Sport understands Villa do not have an immediate replacement and an extensive recruitment process will now begin to find Ward’s successor. The role is likely to be attractive to high-profile candidates from around the world, due to the popularity and profile of the English women’s league being continually on the rise.
It is understood the club’s head of women’s football, Lee Billiard, will draw up a list of possible candidates for Monchi and the club’s director of football operations, Damian Vidagany, to decide on.
Vidagany added in a club statement: “Carla is one of the best coaches in women’s football and we are sad to see her go. I would like to wish her all the best for the future.”
