The Week in Women's Football: Man Utd poach Skinner; Finland update; UWS Championship | OneFootball

This week we review the 2021 season in Finland's Kansallienen Liga—including imports this season—as well as news on Orlando Pride's head coach Marc Skinner's sudden mid-season departure from the club when Manchester United came calling and the response from the Pride Vice President Amanda Duffy, as well as their replacement coaching plans for 2021 and beyond. Finally we look at the 2021 UWS Championship, won by traditional power Santa Clarita Blue Heat, scoring 9 goals and allowing none in their two finals games.

Finland Women's League Update

Finland's First Division Women's Football League, the Kansallienen Liga, is into the second half of the first stage of the 2021 season with 10 teams, after which the league splits into the top six challenging for the championship and the bottom four dropping into the relegation playoffs, with the last two in that round dropping down to the second tier Ykkonen Women; the winner of the latter advancing directly into the top flight as the second place team goes into the relegation playoffs

Aland United are the defending champions from 2020, Hesingin Jalkapalloklubi (HJK Helsinki) won in 2019—they have the most league title wins dating back to 1971 with 23, but 2019 was their first league crown since 2005—while PK-35 Vantaa won titles in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018, interrupted only by FC Honka's win in 2017. Second place TiPS Vantaa is currently vying for its first ever league title.

KuPS (12-1-1 for 37 points and in first place) has three American defenders along with single imports from Sweden, Albania and North Macedonia. The Americans include defender Gabriella Cuevas (27), who has appeared in 14 games and scored 2 goals. Cuevas played collegiately at Monmouth University and the University of Connecticut and was then on the roster for Sky Blue FC in 2018 in the NWSL but did not see action in any games. She then joined Kiryat GAT FC in Israel. Fellow American defender Taryn Jakubowski (23) has played in 13 games with 1 goal in 2021 and went to college at Creighton University in Nebraska. The third American, Allison Pantuso (24), has played in 2 games with 1 goal after transferring from French Division 1 team Issy in June 2021. Before Issy, Pantuso was previously with Nancy in France and Swiss side Lugano; she played collegiately at Oregon State University.

Swedish defender Maja Gothberg (24) has played in 13 games this season with 1 goal in her second season at KuPS; she previously spent time with a variety of first and second division sides at home in Sweden. She played on Sweden's 2016 FIFA WWC U-20 side in Papua New Guinea and won the UEFA U-19 national team championship in 2014-15.

Albanian full international midfielder Lavdije Begolli has appeared in all 14 games this season and scored 3 goals; she is in her second season with KuPS following three years at JyPK, after transferring to the Finnish league from Vllaznia in Albania.

Forward Gentajana Rochi of North Macedonia (26) has played in all 14 games and currently leads in league in goals with 16; she has been in Finland for 5 seasons—the last three with KuPS after two with JyPK following time in Germany with Cloppenburg and Bayer Leverkusen—she has been capped at the senior level.

Aland United (9-3-2 for 30 points for a tie for second place) always brings a lot of imports to the island between Finland's mainland and Sweden, in which the official language is Swedish. American goalkeeper Christina Dineson has played in 13 of 14 games this year and spent two seasons with Assi in the Swedish second division. She played at Alburtus Magnus College in New Haven Connecticut and runs a goalkeeper school in the States.

Defender Catarina (26) is a full international with Portugal and won the 2015-16 league title at home with CF Benfica. Her fellow import from Portugal, Mariana Jaleca (23), plays in midfield and has 3 goals in 12 games. Estonian international defender Pille Raadik (34) has been at the club for over a decade after moving from Flora Tallinn at home. Her international teammate Signy Aarna (30) has played in 11 games with 1 goal and is in her fourth campaign at Aland, after four years previously in Finland at Pallokissat, following time at FC Looos at home. She is nearing 100 caps for Estonia.

Midfielder Sarah Troccoli is from the U.S. and played at the University of Florida; she has appeared in 10 games with Aland this season and scored 3 goals. American forward Karen Reyes has appeared in 14 games this season and scored twice. She played at Marymount University in Arlington Virginia—near Washington D.C. She played for American coach Manya (Makowski) Puppione, who played at Åland United in 2012 and with the WPS' Los Angeles Sol with Brazilian superstar Marta in 2009 and then the Atlanta Beat as well as in Iceland with Thor in 2011; Puppione was a U.S. youth international.

Swedish forward Cassandra Korhonen (23) has 14 goals in 14 games—second in the Golden Boot race—in her first season in Finland after time with Uppsala and Vasteras BK 30 at home. She helped Uppsala in Sweden move up from the Elitettan in 2019 to the top flight Damallsvenskan by scoring 25 goals. She was capped in 2014 by the U-17 side of Sweden and by the U-21's in 2019.

Dana Leskinen (19) of Finland has 7 goals in 13 games this season (tied for sixth) in her first season at Aland after two with Honka; she previously spent two years with Hoffenheim's Second Team in the German Second Division league.

Aland United's coach, Steve Beeks, is from England where he played at the minor league level, primarily with Isthmian Premier League clubs. He has been in Finland since 2010, after a stint at AFC Wimbledon as chief scout, first joining Aland United and then IFK Mariehamn as their academy director. Beeks holds a prestigious UEFA Pro License.

Tenth Place Jyvaskylan (JYPK) has a 0-0-13 record for 0 points and is currently bottom of the table—they survived the drop last season through the relegation playoffs and have two imports on their 2020 roster. American Claire Oates (25) has played 8 games thus far this year with 2 goals. She played 11 games with 1 goal for second division German club Saarbrucken in 2019-20 and previously spent a short time with a minor league team in Italy. She played collegiately at Southern Methodist University and earned a Masters in Sports Management from the Soccer Management Institute in Italy. Their other import is Cyprus full international midfielder Elena Aristodimou (19), who was with Eskilstuna United in Sweden's top flight 2020 and 2021 but did not see any action, after moving from Pygros at home. She has played in 12 matches this season in Finland.

The following clubs are entirely-based with domestic players in 2021:

TiPS Vantaa (10-0-3 for 30 points and tied for second place). They did have a full Nigerian international in Roosa Ariyo (27) for the first half of the season. Ariyo is a Finnish national and grew up there. She spent one season in 2014 in the Swedish second division with Jitex but just joined Granadilla in Spain's top league for the 2021-22 season.

FC Honka (5-4-3 for 13 points in fourth place with 19 points).

HJK Helsinki (5-2-5 for 17 points in fifth place), though at press time they just acquired veteran German defender Leonie Pankratz from Montpellier of France, where she spent one season, after a decade at Hoffenheim interrupted by a brief spell in Iceland with IBV in 2016 .

PK-35 Vantaa (3-5-4 for 14 points in sixth place).

Ilves Tampere (3-3-7 for 12 points and in seventh place).

Pallokerho (PK)-35 of Helsinki (3-2-7 for 11 points and tied for eighth place) .

HPS (Helsinki) (3-2-8 for 11 points and tied for eighth place) were promoted last season after winning the second division title in 2020.

As mentioned above, in the Golden Boot race, Gentjana Rochi of Macedonia and leaders KuPS is first with 16 goals. Cassandra Korhonen of Sweden and Aland United is second on 14 goals, with 5 goals in her last two games—two in a 5-1 away win over JyPK on July 17 and a hat trick in their last match, a 3-2 win at home over TiPS on July 24.

Roosa Ariyo of Nigeria and TiPS—who just moved to Spain with Granadilla Tenerife—is third with 9 goals.

Finland has qualified for the 2022 UEFA Women's EURO Finals in England, after finishing as a semi-finalist in 2005 in England, a quarterfinalist at home in 2009 and falling at the Group Stage in Sweden in 2013 in their three previous finals appearances. A strong showing next summer could help their attempt to make a first ever Women's World Cup final in 2023.

Marc Skinner and his assistant coach Carl Green leave Orlando Pride for Manchester United

After a disastrous collapse into last place in 2019 and then 2020 consisting of only four games for the Orlando Pride because of COVID-19, third-year head coach Marc Skinner had Orlando in the top two for much of the first third of the regular season by starting with a seven game unbeaten streak; they were currently at 4-3-4 (W-D-L) when the club announced on July 23 that Skinner was leaving the club, along with his assistant Carl Green, to return to England after Manchester United reached out to him as a replacement for Casey Stoney, who left the Red Devils after three successful seasons to take the head coaching job for 2022 NWSL expansion franchise San Diego. (See: The Week in Women's Football: Big offseason moves; San Diego appoint Stoney; Spokane joins W-League - Tribal Football). Things happened quickly earlier in the week when Manchester United asked the Orlando team management for permission to talk to Skinner on July 19. Skinner's partner, former England international defender Laura Bassett, is a women's football analyst in England and, because of COVID, he went some period without seeing her or their daughter. He said about his move in a press release, "I am immensely proud to have been the head coach of Orlando Pride. I want to thank the players, staff and club for all of their efforts in creating a culture worthy of this city and state. To the fans, I thank you for being patient whilst we grew together. You will continue to drive this team to achieve the heights that you all deserve. I have no doubt that this club will go from strength to strength with the new ownership in place and the values that the team have worked hard to develop. Although I will be watching from afar, the iconic purple team will always remain close to my heart. For the final time, Vamos Orlando."

TribalFootball.com asked Amanda Duffy, Pride executive vice president and former NWSL league president, on a conference call on July 25 about the financial arrangements between Manchester United and the Pride regarding Skinner ending his contract (in which he was in the final year of his original two plus an optional third year, which the club was in) and whether adding sizeable early departure clauses and penalties to contracts was appropriate for the NWSL teams. Duffy replied, "There were financial considerations with Manchester United. Certainly as it relates to terms and considerations of early release of Marc's contract as well as Carl's, there was dialogue between us and Manchester United. We are comfortable and feel good about where we arrived at. With that consideration and terms and conditions that provide remuneration and protection of what we are building in Orlando…we have learned as we enter new ownership [the current Minnesota Vikings NFL owners] to create better contract structures that we engage in [for] the future; to have the right protection in place is wonderful to have as we learn the right structures." Duffy did not address the specific issue of penalties for contracts but it is a common practice in coaching contracts for college American football and basketball, in which annual salaries can exceed $5 Million a year at some schools. Years ago, Washington State University in rural Pullman started to add penalties as they experienced a run of American football coaches staying one year and then leaving for a better offer. Typically in these cases, the new team pays the penalty but it was enough to shake up one football coach, who thought that WSU would just ignore the cause, and

reportedly he had to pay a healthy share of the sum out of his own pocket. I can now see the NWSL trying to standardize this issue across the clubs. There is a balance between not blocking a coach's career growth with protecting the club and the brand; of course COVID has certainly negatively impacted some of the U.K. coaches in the NWSL by having to spend long separation periods from their U.K.-based families, along with quarantine periods when visits are arranged.

Earlier this season, Mark Parsons announcement that he was leaving Portland Thorns at the end of the season to take over the Netherlands national team was greeted by Portland management as something akin to a visit from the Grim Reaper, (with their General Manager repeating the theme that they would deal with this news that day only after it had been reported in Europe and hopefully not any more—difficult when Parsons will continue to coach the Thorns club for six months until the season ends in November. Parsons did emphasize the difficulty of the separation issue from his family in Europe during COVID to the American media, while playing up the opportunity to coach the stellar Netherlands squad (and being close to home) with the European media (See: The Week in Women's Football: Parsons joins Netherlands; Aluko new director at Angel City; Eastern European book review – Tribal Football).

Duffy did indicate that she would announce an interim coaching team to guide the side through the rest of the season while conducting an extensive search for a permanent coach (see more below).

The most bizarre part of last week was that Pride assistant coach Carl Green—who was also leaving with Skinner for Manchester United—was asked to take on the head role for one game on June 24th against OL Reign, a game which they lost 2-0 to a club that has gone through its own recent head coaching change and is currently in eighth place out of ten teams. (See: The Week in Women's Football: Ex-Arsenal coach joins Reign; Matheson retires; Iceland update - Tribal Football). OL Reign used a goal and an assist from Tziarra King (ex-North Carolina State University), with Wales international Jess Fishlock scoring once, but having a penalty kick saved by Pride goalkeeper Ashyn Harris, who was outstanding with 10 saves. French international Eugenie Le Sommer assisted on King's goal.

After the game Green said, "Obviously it's always difficult to leave a club, so I'm feeling pretty sad and a little bit emotional after the game, but I'm just really proud of the players and their attitude and spirit in that game. They had a lot go against them, so I'm leaving with a feeling of pride...I think what they've showed is togetherness as a group of players...You look at the end of that game and how hard they worked for each other and the spirit they showed, I think it will bode so well for the team going forward for the rest of the season and I think that's something that the players have done really well. The togetherness they have, you could see that on the field toward the end of the game, in particular. I think they really tried to get back into the game." This reporter thought that the Pride looked jaded while viewing the game—justifiably so, though they are missing Alex Morgan (U.S.), Marta (Brazil), Ali Riley (New Zealand) and Erin McLeod (Canada) away on Olympic Games duty. One long-time American women's soccer writer—Dan Lauletta of Equalizer Soccer—said that against the Reign, "The Pride played like a team adrift." To date, the Pride has played five straight matches with four losses and one draw;

they are in a tie for sixth place on 16 points but still in the playoff picture with 6 teams qualifying this season.

On the conference call with Duffy, Green said that he learned the physicality of players in America—originally starting at Birmingham City as a strength coach—and will try to apply that emphasis in the WSL, where he thinks the league is not at the NWSL's level for that physical type of play—a common trait always applied to American women's football in comparison to a number of countries around the world.

As far as the interim coaching staff, Orlando settled that quickly on June 26 by selecting Becky Burleigh, who was the long-time (26 years) women's head coach at the University of Florida in Gainsville, Florida. She had a 513–46–160 (W-T-L) career record (a winning percentage of 71%), including an NCAA Championship title, 14 SEC [Southeastern Conference] titles and appearances in the NCAA tournament in 22 of 26 seasons. She was 1998 NSCAA/Adidas National Coach of the Year and has coached a number of the game's biggest names, including former U.S. WNT stars Abby Wambach and Heather Mitts, as well as current Pride players Erika Tymrak and Meggie Dougherty Howard. Prior to joining Florida, Burleigh led Berry College to two NAIA Championships over five seasons. Alan Kirkup, Burleigh's former associate head coach at UF, will also join the Pride coaching staff as an interim assistant coach for 2021. A player at Manchester United (ironically, since they really caused all this change in Orlando) from 1972-76, Kirkup retired from collegiate coaching last season after 15 years with the Gators. He also coached women's teams at the University of Maryland and Southern Methodist University in Dallas and the University of Arkansas, where he had a 224-19-137 (W-T-L) record in his 18 years as a collegiate head coach

Hue Menzies—the 2019 Women's World Cup head coach of Jamaica—is based in Orlando and was one candidate that I thought the Pride might reach out to, but Burleigh is an excellent choice and should help the Pride to settle down for the rest of the season. With so much drama from a horrid 2019 season in the league in Skinner's first season in which they finished last, not being able to compete in the 2020 Challenge Cup because of a COVID outbreak—after some players were photographed in a club just before the team was to depart to Utah—and now the coaching change in 2021, the Pride was rapidly becoming Team Turmoil—replacing the title that Sky Blue FC (now NY/NY FC Gotham) had for years. With Marta and Alex Morgan returning from Japan, Burleigh has a strong core to work with to try to make the playoffs and perhaps be considered for the job full-time in 2022 and beyond.

Santa Clarita Blue Heat Captures 2021 UWS National Championship

The Santa Clarita Blue Heat of Southern California won its second UWS title on July 25 by capturing the 2021 UWS crown (the league did not play in 2020 because of COVID) after winning the league's first championship in 2016 and then finishing second in 2017. The Blue Heat has had high profile internationals who are now with clubs in Europe, including Venezuelan international Deyna Castellanos (Atletico Madrid of Spain) and Bulgarian international Evi Popadinova (Napoli of Italy). They defeated Connecticut Fusion 5-0 in the Championship Game in Round Rock, Texas on June 25. Lena Silano (Long Beach State University) was named the UWS Championship Tournament MVP after scoring twice in the final, along with goals from Angeles Escobar (USC), Olufolasade Adamolekun (USC) and Iris Rabot (James Madison University).

Forward Lena Silano, who will be a Junior this fall at Long Beach State University, won the UWS Player of the Tournament Award for 2021 Champions Santa Clarita Blue Heat. Photo Courtesy of the UWS

SC Blue Heat also had an easy win over San Antonio Athenians (4-0) in the semifinals two days earlier. Sisters Gisele and Alyssa Thompson (both still in high school, with the latter winning the national girls soccer player of the year award as a sophomore and both have committed to play at Stanford University) and Escobar and Silano all scored the goals in the win. CT Fusion edged Midwest United 2-1 in the other semifinal in their first trip to the UWS national championship. CT Fusion grabbed the first goal from forward Tori Sousa (who played at the University of Massachusetts and Central Connecticut State University and has since been coaching at the high school and college level in the States) in the 62nd minute. Sousa's low cross found Chloe Landers (University of Connecticut) at the back post who made it 2-0 five minutes later. Only a last minute consolation goal from Midwest United's team captain Avery Lockwood, who has played with the US at the U-20 level and is entering her second season at Indiana University, kept CT Fusion from their third clean sheet in three playoff games to that point in 2020.

Stephanie Cleaves (UWS Executive Director) with Iris Rabot and Lauren Sesselmann (SC Blue Heat captains). Photo Courtesy UWS

CT Fusion qualified for the UWS Final Four in third place in the East Conference but then defeated FC Buffalo, 2-0 in the East Conference Final, after dispatching Syracuse DA by the same score in the East Conference Semifinals. Long-time American veteran Tiffany Weimer (37) led the side with 8 regular season goals. Weiner, a former U.S. U-21 international, won a NWSL title with the Portland Thorns in 2013 and has recently been playing in Denmark with Nordsjaelland after time in Sweden, Finland and Brazil over the years. She is also the President and Founder of Our Game Magazine, a women's football quarterly magazine. The Fusion also features Roma McLaughlin, a Republic of Ireland international midfielder from Donegal, who is a two-time United Soccer Coaches All-American at Central Connecticut State, where she will be a senior. McLaughlin played in six games for the Fusion, while missing some time away with her national side—she scored four goals and added three assists prior to the Finals weekend. The team also has Amanda Mcquillan, who plays at home with Shelbourne FC in the Republic of Ireland Women's National League.

Midwest United defeated St. Louis SG 3-1 in the Midwest/Central Conference Final, outshooting them 15-6. Midwest United are one of two sides that brought an unbeaten record into Round Rock, along with the SC Blue Heat. Anna Bennett (Indiana University) had a goal and two assists along with goals from Avery Lockwood (Indiana University) and Hannah Crum. (Aquinas College) in the regional final. The 42 goals scored by Midwest United in the regular season led all UWS sides, followed by 41 for Lone Star Republic with CT Fusion joint third with 39 along for the Chicago Mustangs.

Grand Rapids FC won the UWS National Championship in 2017 and again appeared in the National Semifinals in 2018. Grand Rapids FC announced collaboration with Midwest United in late 2019, and in 2021 returned on the national stage.

Midfielder Karabo Dhlamini is from South Africa and played with Mamelodi Sundowns and with the national side at the U-17 Women's World Cup in Uruguay in 2018. She is a sophomore at Oakland University in Rochester (suburban Detroit) Michigan.

San Antonio Athenians beat previously unbeaten Lone Star Republic 1-0 in the Southwest Conference Final, which was some revenge for their only loss of the season (6-0) early in the regular season. With extra time looming, Jamie Erickson (MacEwan College in Edmonton, Alberta, who played at the World University Games in Italy in 2019) controlled a loose ball in the box and sent it past the Lone Star keeper for the winning goal. Amanda Smith (St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia) led the side with 7 goals while Natalie Hanson (University of Incarnate Word in Texas) had 4 assists. Goalkeeper Blair Currie is from New Zealand but did not play in any matches and collegiately lines up with Seton Hall University Athenians along with the CT Fusion were competing in their first ever UWS National Championship Tournament.

In the West Conference, there were no playoffs in the West Conference this season, but the final game of the regular season was effectively a final. SC Blue Heat entered this match against Calgary Foothills knowing that a draw would be enough to send them to the national semifinals, while Calgary would need three points to claim the West's bid. Ultimately, SC Blue Heat did what was needed, grinding out a 1-1 draw to book their place. But that result didn't come without some nerves. Calgary Foothills took the lead in the 23rd minute, when Anna Hauer's strike from the top of the box found the top corner of the goal. Gisele Thompson dribbled to the left end line and delivered a pinpoint cross to Lena Silano, who headed home for the crucial equalizer just before halftime. The Blue Heat back line did the work from there to secure a place in the National Championships.

The Blue Heat had two Armenian internationals on their side—midfielder Nancy Avesyan (31) and defender Sydney Vermillion (33)—who both played at Cal State Northridge and grew up in the Los Angeles area, which has a large Armenian ex-pat community. Midfielder Iris Rabot is from France and played in Olympique Lyon's Academy and is now at James Madison University in Virginia. after starting at the University of Northwestern Ohio. Forward Cayla McFarlane is a Trinidad and Tobago full national team players and is at Harvard University. Forward Olufolasade Adamolekun plays at USC and internationally for Jamaica, after being called into U.S. national team camps as a youth. Blue Heat defender Lauren Sesselmann was a long-time Canadian national team player with 46 caps, winning a Bronze Medal in the 2012 Olympic Games Finals in London; she played at Purdue, FC Indiana in the WPSL and W-League as well as Sky Blue FC and the Atlanta Beat in the WPS (2009-2011) and FC Kansas City and the Houston Dash in the NWSL (2013-2015). Yujie Zhao will be a senior at Florida State University and played in the 2018 U-20 Women's World Cup in France for China.

In an exhibition game during the Championship weekend, FC Austin Elite defeated a Texas UWS All-Star team 6-1, with Vanessa Valadez of Southern Methodist University the player of the game after scoring a hat-trick.

Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women's football. Get yours copy today.

Follow Tim on Twitter: @TimGrainey