Rangers’ Jo Potter: ‘Glasgow is such an amazing city, it’s immersed in football’ | Moving the Goalposts | OneFootball

“[Coaching] was always in my sights,” reflects the Rangers women’s head coach, Jo Potter. “I don’t know why because I don’t even think there were professional managers when I was coaching and trying to be a manager.”

“It’s something that I had clearly set in my mind from quite early,” she continues. “I was coaching from 18-19 years old and nobody knew. I did things so under the radar that people at the FA didn’t even know … It was really important for me to get all the experience because I wasn’t naive enough to think that just because I played for England, I could turn up and be a really good coach or manager.”

During the international break, Potter made the journey down to St George’s Park as part of the FA’s coaching excellence initiative, an 18-month programme designed to help coaches and managers across the women’s game continue their development on and off the field. Her cohort consists of 12 current coaches, including Newcastle United’s Becky Langley and Liverpool’s Amber Whiteley.

“It’s so refreshing and this is exactly what is needed,” Potter says. “To be around like-minded people, being able to help each other and to be on that journey together is important. I think you see that we have some really strong female coaches but they may have to go elsewhere to get jobs. I’m hoping that initiatives like this will really help hone the British coaches that we do have and the strength we have to be able to keep pushing and help Sarina [Wiegman] and the people who are going to come after her.”

For followers of Potter’s playing career, her transition into management will come as little surprise. However, she also has had to “spread her wings”, making the move to Glasgow in June 2023. In under two years, it is a decision that has brought success for both with two Scottish Women’s Premier League Cups and a Scottish Women’s Cup while missing out narrowly on the title last season to arch-rivals Celtic on goal difference. In doing so, however, they secured Champions League qualification for only the second time.

“Glasgow is such an amazing city,” Potter says with a smile. “I didn’t know too much about it before I went but it’s immersed in football. It’s been such an invaluable experience to be at an enormous club like Rangers that expects silverware and expects you to win. It has really pushed on my experience because there are not many places where you can get that [in England].”

“I think it’s really important to feel those pressures and to soak that in,” she continues. “You have got two ways to come out [of it] – you either achieve it, or you fall short and you learn from those [moments].”

Winning silverware is important but equally as fundamental for Potter is establishing sustainable foundations for long-term success. During her time at the club, the staff has grown by more than 30%, they have signed key players and established an under-20s programme.

“The biggest thing for me is being in a club that’s really aligned with your ambition – not shooting too far, too soon and wanting to make sure it’s done properly,” she says. “We’re definitely doing that.”

Being able to develop their own talent pathway forms a significant part of the strategy as they look to build sustainability both for themselves and the wider sport in the country. There is no doubt that Scotland have slipped on the international stage in recent years, failing to qualify for the last two major tournaments and Potter knows more than anyone how important that correlation can be. She was part of the Lionesses squad that won a bronze medal at the 2015 Women’s World Cup, an achievement that propelled the team to a new level in conjunction with the Women’s Super League.

“We need the national team to be doing well because it impacts us as a league,” Potter says. “And vice versa; we need to be doing well to help Scotland progress. That’s something that we saw with the WSL. As soon as that started pushing on, we were instantly better on an international stage.”

“That’s why it’s important for us to bring our youth through at Rangers,” she continues. “I don’t think there’s another team in the league that’s fighting that has that amount of academy players that come through … It is about winning but it’s also about producing and sustaining players that are going to help the country because international football is very important.”

In the near future, however, an enthralling finale to the SWPL season awaits. Rangers are looking to mount a challenge for the title once more and currently sit two points behind leaders Hibernian. Potter’s goals sound simple. “More trophies” is her immediate response when asked about her ambitions for the next 12 months.

“When you experience winning silverware, you want more,” she says. “We have ambitions to go even further in the Champions League … For me, it’s being the best coach and manager I can be; helping my team to achieve more and just aiming to keep progressing and keep pushing the women’s game as far as we can.”

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