rewrite this title ‘Feels like a jail term’: Kirk struggling for ‘second chance’ in women’s football

Former Leicester City Women head coach Willie Kirk says he is struggling to get a ‘second chance’ in football after being dismissed from his post when admitting to being in a relationship with a player.

Kirk was let go from Leicester in March 2024 after an internal investigation found that he had breached the Women’s Super League club’s code of conduct.

He was suspended before Leicester’s FA Cup quarter-final against Liverpool last term and missed three games before being sacked. Personal relationships between players and coaches in women’s football can create a power imbalance and have been criticised widly including from Lionesses coach Sarina Wiegman.

Since his dismissal, Kirk has applied for coaching roles at other WSL clubs but claims he ‘never got one interview’ and that his ostracism from the game ‘feels like a jail term’.

“I have applied for every WSL and Championship vacancy since I lost my job, apart from Arsenal and Manchester City,” Kirk told BBC Sport.

“I never got one interview. I let myself down in terms of what happened at Leicester. I understand why clubs haven’t wanted to get involved, I can see why people will be upset.

“But in the grand scheme of things I’ve not committed a serious crime. There is no jail term, but it feels like there has been a jail term.”

The 46-year-old knows what he did was wrong and that he broke rules that are in place to safeguard both players and staff.

“I knew there was a code of conduct, I signed it like everyone else,” Kirk said. “As first-team manager you are there to lead by example and that is why I have never said I shouldn’t have been sacked.

“Sometimes I think I should have denied it and taken it to the grave, but I don’t think that would have sat well with me. I admitted it and that was it.

“It was quite public [his dismissal], I hope people think ‘we cannot do this’. I have learned a hell of a lot and you never want to go through a year like I have been through.

“It affects everything – your professional life, your personal life, your finances, your emotional well-being.”

Kirk spent 14 years in the women’s game managing Leicester, Everton, Bristol City and Hibernian. He is currently studying for a masters degree in sporting directorship in the hopes of being accepted to a different role within football.

He added: “It will never be acceptable, but when will it be accepted? Obviously I’m going to say this about myself when I am trying to find a job, but the statistics show there is a good manager out of work.

“I get it, but when will somebody say enough is enough, this person deserves a second chance?”