Hope Powell

Hope Powell
CBE

Powell in April 2018, managing Brighton & Hove Albion
Personal information
Full name	Hope Patricia Powell
Date of birth	(1966-12-08) 8 December 1966 (age 57)
Place of birth	Lewisham, England
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Birmingham City (technical director)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1978–1987	Millwall Lionesses
1987–1989	Friends of Fulham
1989–1991	Millwall Lionesses
1991–1994	Bromley Borough
1994–1998	Croydon
International career
1983–1998	England	66	(35)
Managerial career
1998–2013	England
2012	Great Britain Olympic
2017–2022	Brighton & Hove Albion
2023–	Birmingham City (technical director)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Hope Patricia Powell CBE (born 8 December 1966) is an English football coach and former player who is the Women's Technical Director at Birmingham City.

As a player, Powell won 66 caps for England, mainly as an attacking midfielder, scoring 35 goals. She made her England debut at the age of 16, and went on to play in the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup, England's first World Cup appearance. She was also vice-captain of her country. At club level, Powell played in four FA Women's Cup finals and captained Croydon to a League and Cup double in 1996.

The Football Association (FA) appointed Powell as England's first-ever full-time national coach in 1998. She led the team at the 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2013 editions of the UEFA Women's Championship. After failing to qualify in 2003, she guided England to the quarter-finals of the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2007 and 2011. England's best results, reaching the final of the UEFA Women's Championship in 1984 and 2009, both featured Powell. She was a player at the former and coach at the latter.

As well as managing the England senior team, Powell oversaw the whole structure from Under-15s to the Under-23s, a coach mentoring scheme and The FA's National Player Development Centre at Loughborough University.^[1] In May 2009, Powell's administration implemented central contracts, to help players focus on full-time training and playing, without having to fit it around full-time employment. Initially, 17 players signed contracts.^[2] In 2003, Powell became the first woman to achieve the UEFA Pro Licence, the highest coaching qualification available. She also managed the Great Britain women's Olympic football team during the 2012 Summer Olympics and Brighton & Hove Albion from 2017 to 2022.