Beard Hired to Take Breakers Post
- Updated: September 22, 2015
Photo credit: Sky Sports
There’ll be a new face on the Breakers touchline in 2016 as the organization hired former Liverpool Ladies FC boss Matt Beard to serve as head coach on Tuesday.
Beard, 37, won two straight FA Women’s Super League titles in 2013 and 2014 with Liverpool Ladies. As an assistant at Charlton Ladies, he helped guide the club to three titles: the FA Women’s Cup, FA Premier League Cup, and Community Shield.
“I am delighted to be bringing someone of Matt’s capabilities in to the Breakers,” Breakers general manager Lee Billiard said in a team release on Tuesday. “He is a very knowledgeable coach, his on and off field philosophies match our ambitions, and he has a strong success record at each of his clubs.”
Beard succeeds Tom Durkin, who left his post as head coach after a pair of underwhelming seasons in which the Breakers finished no better than eighth on the NWSL table.
“I am excited at the prospect of challenging myself abroad in a league as competitive as the NWSL with the Boston Breakers,” said Beard in a team release on Tuesday. “Me and my family are looking forward to moving to a great city, and I cannot wait to get started.”
Following his time at Charlton, Beard spent one season with Milwall Lionesses, winning the Premier Southern Division, before moving on to Chelsea Ladies FC to become the First Team Manager in 2009. With Chelsea, Beard guided the Blues to the FA Cup final in 2012, the team’s first year in the FA Women’s Super League.
In Aug. 2012, Beard was appointed full-time manager of Liverpool LFC. In just over a year’s time, Beard took Liverpool from the bottom of the table all the way to qualification in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, a first for the club. That same year, Liverpool won their first FAWSL title and they successfully defended it in 2014.
Beard will finish out the 2015 FAWSL season, which concludes next month, with Liverpool before moving to Boston.
“We believe the hiring of Matt as our head coach is a big statement for what we want to do here in Boston,” Billiard said, “and also a strong statement for the league.”
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