Clinton Lancaster says bolstering the Aberdeen Women’s squad will be “priority one” in his early days as Reds manager.
The 35-year-old Englishman was unveiled as the Dons’ new permanent boss – becoming the first full-time women’s gaffer in the club’s history – on Tuesday.
Temporary manager Gavin Levey led Aberdeen Women to a ninth-place finish in SWPL 1 last season and several players, most recently midfielder Brodie Greenwood, have exited since the campaign concluded.
Lancaster is well aware of the need to add to his squad ahead of the top-flight restart in mid-August, but while he accepts there is a “rush” to make signings, there is no “panic”.
He said: “There’s an element where we need to be quick, but when you say a rush, panic and alarm bells come to mind.
“But it is absolutely a priority, yes.
“The priority is bringing players in to try to strengthen the squad, but it has got to be the right players for the club and for me to work with. I won’t be bringing in players just for bodies.
“They have to be able to come in and play the way I want to play and fit what I want to do here.
“But it’s priority one to bring players in.”
Lancaster reaching out to his contacts in bid to land new signings
Following his stint in charge, Levey – who is back dedicating his full attention to his role as Aberdeen’s head of youth academy – collated a shortlist of potential recruits for incoming boss Lancaster to help the new manager hit the ground running.
Experienced Lancaster is confident, with his own contacts in the game, there will be good news of the signings front soon, saying: “I’ve had a chat with Gav about a few players he’s heard of and knows, and then there’s players obviously from my experience in the women’s game that I’m trying to reach out to as well.
“We’re getting there.”
Boss impressed with existing Reds players including ‘international experience at a young age’
Lancaster met the existing Aberdeen Women’s squad, including the likes of Scotland youth internationals Eilidh Shore and Bayley Hutchison, as well as former FA Women’s Super League player Nadine Hanssen, when the Dons returned for pre-season on Tuesday.
Impressed by the talent in the ranks already, he said: “Their attitudes are spot on. They want to give everything for the club.
“I think you’ve got to admire a lot of players in the women’s game at this end, who are wanting to come and give up their time in the evenings to play.
“I love working with players like that, because they’re ambitious.
“They’re a young group – but I don’t mind that, because they’re hungry.
“There’s players there with international experience at a young age, and players who have played down in England in the Super League and Championship with a lot of experience. It’s just a case of trying to add to that now.”
Lancaster’s journey from Chelsea’s academy to English women’s second tier with Watford
A former Plymouth Argyle youth player, Lancaster coached at boys’ and girls’ youth level with Plymouth and Chelsea.
He then became assistant manager for Crystal Palace Women (a role he combined with youth coaching at Palace), helping the side earn promotion from the fourth to third tier in 2016.
A move to Watford followed: first in the women’s under-23s manager’s job (again, combined with youth coaching), then assistant with the senior side, before he took over as senior boss in his own right.
In the manager’s role, Lancaster took Watford Women from the third tier up to the second-tier Championship in summer 2021, before leaving the club in December 2021.
He has since worked back in boys’ football with local club Aldershot Town.
Historic Dons role ‘means world’ to Englishman
Lancaster says landing his new – and historic – full-time management job with Aberdeen Women “means the world” to him.
With the role coming after extensive discussions with the likes of Dons director of football Steven Gunn and Levey, he added: “I knew a lot about the club already, but Gav took me on a tour of the stadium the other day and taught me even more – the history of the club, and what it means to the community here, not only the men, but the women as well, the local area and the fact they want to get behind the women’s team.”
Lancaster was excited enough by the Dons as a club, and so determined to take on the challenge, he has – for now at least – left his wife and young son in Hampshire to move to the north-east, intending to “commit and be here every single day” as he throws himself into the post.
Gaffer will make call on more paid deals for players at club, as he defines what ‘success’ look like
As previously reported by The Press and Journal, Reds Women’s coach Claire Garrett will stay on to help new boss Lancaster, and he will potentially add more staff in the weeks ahead.
As the only full-time member of staff, at a team where, as things stand, only five members of the squad are on semi-professional deals, it is expected Lancaster will drive the Dons’ entire women’s football operation – with the capacity to helm recruitment, meet with and coach his players, and engage with local universities and schools to promote the women’s game and team.
It will be similar to what he experienced after taking Watford up to the English second tier – when he became a full-time boss within a part-time setup.
During the Dons search for a new women’s manager, Levey said Aberdeen planned to build on the first five paid contracts awarded to women’s players last year by putting more players on paid deals.
Although they are competing in SWPL 1 alongside full-time sides, Lancaster thinks Aberdeen have been taking the right approach by gradually scaling up investment in their women’s operation since assuming control of the senior side from Aberdeen Ladies in 2018.
He said: “There’s a lot of clubs who’ve thrown a lot at it too early and it’s gone completely wrong.”
On the prospect of further paid contracts for players at the club, Lancaster added: “I’ll obviously have to make the decisions myself on contracts and things.”
In the press release confirming his appointment, Lancaster – who intends for Aberdeen Women to play a variety of pre-season opposition before their SWPL 1 campaign kicks off at home to Motherwell on August 13 – spoke about bringing “success” to the club.
But how will success be defined in SWPL 1 against fully professional outfits like Rangers, Celtic and Glasgow City?
Lancaster said: “First of all, we’ve got to stay in the league and make sure we position ourselves well enough to do that.
“I think that will probably be the aim for most of the teams running off a part-time model in a league where you’ve got clubs that are full-time and the contact time is less than other clubs.
“The aim is to stay in the league and push on and see how far we can go really.”