It was announced Tuesday that former English defender Anita Asante will join the Bristol City W.F.C. coaching staff ahead of the 2022/23 season. This (announcement) comes after the 37-year-old hung up her cleats in late April, last playing for Aston Villa.
She joins head coach Lauren Smith, who also happens to be one of her former mentors.
“I’m so happy to be joining @bristolcitywfc as a first team coach!” Asante wrote on her Twitter account, “I’ve been so impressed by the set up & can’t wait to help support @Lsmith_12 & the team smash it this season! 👊🏾”
Asante had a 19-year career in top professional soccer with several accolades including winning the quadruple in 2006/2007(i.e., UEFA Women’s Cup, FA Women’s National Premier League, FA Women’s Cup and the FA Women’s Premier League Cup) with Arsenal, earning over 70 caps with the senior England WNT, and representing Great Britain in the 2012 London Olympic games. She also has played professionally in Sweden and the United States.
In “The First Interview” series with Bristol City, Asante hopes that she can bring her “experience [from] playing for several clubs at the highest level of the women’s game”. She chose the club for “the opportunity to work with a great crop of players” as well as staff that have “welcomed her in”.
Know affectionately to some as Neetz, Asante is also vocal about issues regarding racism in the (women’s) game as well as LGBTQIA+ inclusion as an openly queer athlete.
“I never got to work with many women that came from my background or looked like me” she
states regarding her goal to give back to game through representation
She joins the likes of Hope Powell, first-team manager of Brighton & Hove Albion, as one of the few former Black players turned coaching staff in top division of women’s football in the UK
The rest of the interview can be watched HERE
