Manchester United Appoints Eva Olid as New Women's Head Coach
Manchester United Women have handed the reins to Eva Olid, the coach who turned Hearts into champions and walked away at the very peak of their rise. Now she steps into one of the most scrutinised jobs in the women’s game, with the clock already ticking towards the new WSL season.
Olid replaces Marc Skinner, who left on Monday after five years in charge and a month before United open their WSL campaign against London City Lionesses on September 4, live on Sky Sports. The timing underlines the scale of the task. Pre-season plans, tactical identity, dressing-room hierarchy – all of it now falls under a new voice.
From Hearts history-maker to Old Trafford project leader
Olid arrives with a résumé that has grown rapidly in stature. She joined Hearts in 2021 and stayed for five years, shaping a club that had never truly threatened Scotland’s elite into champions.
Last season, Hearts claimed a historic first Scottish Women’s Premier League title, finishing two points clear of Rangers. The league crown came just weeks after they had reached their first Scottish Cup final in 2024, where Rangers denied them a domestic double.
By the time her departure was confirmed – a mutual decision announced in April and sealed at the end of the season – Olid had already left with the one thing every coach craves: a title and a legacy.
Now United want that same edge. They see her as the ideal figure to squeeze more out of a squad in transition and to accelerate the pathway from academy to first team.
“The opportunity to become head coach of Manchester United Women is a dream come true,” Olid said. “The club has outstanding infrastructure and everything we need to achieve our ambitions. We have an excellent training facility, an academy that is already producing players capable of performing in a competitive first team and an exceptional group of support staff.”
A new philosophy under Ratcliffe and INEOS
Olid walks into a club that has quietly, but decisively, changed course.
When Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS arrived, the message was bold: win the WSL by 2028. It was an era of big talk and big spending, chasing the established powers of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City on their own terms.
That plan has been stripped back. United now intend to build from the bottom up, prioritising their women’s academy and long-term development over headline transfers. The club believes that pouring ever more money into star names and inflated wages has not delivered the return they expected, and that the escalating cost of a WSL title chase is drifting towards the unsustainable.
So the strategy shifts. Less about outbidding rivals, more about outgrowing them.
The men’s side has long dined out on the mythology of homegrown success – from the Busby Babes to the Class of ’92 – but that story is largely unwritten in the women’s game. United are betting that patience, structure and a strong academy can translate into trophies there too.
It is a bold gamble. And it demands something modern football rarely offers: time.
Skinner’s legacy and the risk of a reset
Skinner leaves behind a record that should not be casually dismissed. During his five-year spell, United Women reached four major finals – three FA Cups and one League Cup – and finally lifted their first major trophy in the 2023/24 season.
He also took them into Europe for the first time. United reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League last season and, crucially, became the only side to consistently trouble the WSL’s long‑standing “big three”.
Those achievements gave United a taste of the top table. But they came at a cost. Competing with the league’s superpowers demands depth, experience and, usually, expensive recruitment. United’s hierarchy now question whether that arms race is worth the financial strain.
So the club pivots to youth, and Olid becomes the figurehead of that shift.
A coach who has just proved she can build and win with a developing squad now takes charge of a club that wants exactly that model on a bigger stage. The alignment is obvious. The challenge is brutal.
Can United maintain their place among the WSL elite while blooding academy products and trimming back on marquee signings? Can a philosophy built on patience survive a league where progress is measured in points, not potential?
Olid will not be afforded a bedding-in period. The WSL opener against London City Lionesses looms, the expectations remain, and the landscape at the top of the women’s game is more unforgiving than ever.
United have chosen their path. They have chosen their coach. Now they find out how long the game will let them wait for the payoff.
