Newcastle United Jets today announced that Head Coach Craig Deans has made the decision to step down from the job with to allow Assistant Ash Wilson to continue to lead the team uninterrupted for the remaining two fixtures of the W-League season.
Wilson had been in charge since early January as Deans took charge of the A-League side in an interim role which ended last week and was due to return to the W-League role for tomorrow’s clash with Melbourne Victory but felt it wouldn’t be fair on Ash to do so telling the clubs website:
Newcastle Jets can confirm that Ash Wilson will continue to lead the Club's Westfield W-League side for the remainder of the 2019/20 season #MadeOfNewcastle
📰 https://t.co/ZzYQSycLNd pic.twitter.com/7nj25xy3kJ
— NEWCASTLE JETS FC ✈️ (@NewcastleJetsFC) February 22, 2020
“I’ve been away from the girls for more than six weeks now given my commitments with the Hyundai A-League side, and it’s only right that Ash now sees out the season as Head Coach,” Deans said.
“It’s not a decision I’ve taken easily, but I think it’s the right one to allow our Westfield W-League side some consistency and give them every chance to finish the season as strongly as possible.”
Dean’s begin his tenure in 2015/16 alongside Wilson, winning Coach of the Year in his inaugural season and has overseen some of the most successful times in the club’s W-League history.
After leading the team back to the Finals after a nine-year drought in 2017/18, Deans became the first coach to sign a contract extension in the club’s history while also overseeing the Academy Program in the winter.
Wilson is relishing the opportunity to see out the campaign on a high and put forward her case for the Head Coaching role next season:
“Having worked so closely with Deansy (Craig Deans) over the past five seasons, I’ve learnt so much both in that time and across the past six weeks in charge.”
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