Tailor has creative ideas to improve women's football

Throughout her career, Manisha Tailor has confronted entrenched gender stereotypes, often being underestimated and wrongly assumed to occupy peripheral roles instead of being recognised for her work as a football coach.

- Kimberly Kwek Sports Correspondent

Undeterred, the Briton has gone on to build a career path spanning both men and women’s football in England, driven by her idea to “move forward and look ahead”.

Having had coaching stints with the Middlesex Girls Centre of Excellence and England Under-15 girls’ team and academy positions at Championship side Queens Park Rangers (QPR), Tailor’s latest challenge has taken her nearly 11,000km from her home in London.

In September, she took over from Fazrul Nawaz as the Singapore Under-19 women’s head coach on a two-year deal, alongside taking on the role of women’s coach developer at the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), a position dedicated to supporting women coaches.

On what drew her to coaching in Singapore, the 45-year-old said: “I wanted to widen my toolbox as a coach. I am very ambitious and driven, and I suppose that comes from my own adversities, which have led to me being extremely intrinsically motivated in terms of player development and also my personal development.”

Working in Asia had always been a goal for Tailor, who is of Indian heritage and was raised in London.