Brisbane Roar has today announced that Premiership-winning W-League head coach Mel Andreatta has stepped down from her role ahead of the 2019/20 season.
Andreatta, who most recently joined the senior Matildas coaching staff during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, will continue in her role as part of the Matildas Female Coach Mentor Program.
She has also taken up the role of head coach of the Brisbane Strikers U-16s and U-18s boys’ teams in the Queensland National Premier League.
On her new role in the QLD NPL, Andreatta said: “The Brisbane Strikers’ philosophy is something I am very eager to be involved with.”
“The meetings I have had with Nacho have been very detailed and specific about how we will support the players and teams to play the Strikers way.
“I’m looking forward to assisting the club to achieve its goals of being the number one NPL club in not only Queensland, but also Australia.
“I have a strong desire to be the best coach I can be and that requires being involved in a competition run over many months and many games that is played at a high pace.”
On how she will balance her new role at the Strikers with her other commitments, Andreatta said: “The flexibility and support offered by Brisbane Strikers to continue my roles with the Matildas was very appealing to me.”
“I have two great assistant coaches that will maintain the standards, processes and methodology whenever I am away with the Matildas.
“We will be doing everything possible to ensure the success of the Brisbane Strikers program and develop the best players we can for (senior head coach) Owen Baker and the senior team,” she concluded.
During her tenure as head coach of Brisbane Roar, Andretta led the team to back-to-back top-two finishes, as well as an historic third Premiership in 2017/18.
Brisbane’s head coach role will now be filled by Jake Goodship, former head coach of the Young Roar in the Queensland NPL competition. Goodship has been involved in the club’s Academy since its inception, leading Brisbane Roar’s Youth League team to a Championship in 2018.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to be part of the success the Roar Women have had, previously under Mel Andreatta,” Goodship said.
“There’s great staff and it’s a great playing squad – I’m excited to move forward and build more success here with the squad.
“I want to be successful, but we also want to improve. I am keen to be successful on field, but success also comes in pushing players to the next level, improving their games and progressing to places like the [Westfield] Matildas squad.
“The stronger Brisbane Roar is, the stronger the national team is too so I’ll be working as hard to bring success and improvement to the squad.”
