Marieanne Spacey-Cale is set to leave her position as Southampton’s director of women’s football later this year.
She is widely regarded as a key figure in Southampton’s women’s operation, having made a major contribution across several roles since joining in 2018.
Spacey-Cale helped establish the women’s and girls’ programme and served as first-team coach as Southampton earned consecutive promotions in 2021 and 2022, securing a place in WSL 2.
“After eight remarkable years with Southampton FC, I have made the difficult decision to bring my time at the club to an end,” said Spacey-Cale, who was appointed director of football in 2024.
Reports published this month claimed that Southampton are substantially reducing, external the funding allocated to their women’s side.
New licensing standards introduced in 2025 for teams competing in the top two divisions of English football placed additional pressure on women’s clubs.
A number of clubs have since reduced their ambitions for their women’s teams after being unable to satisfy the new conditions.
Southampton’s men’s side faced extensive criticism after the Spygate controversy emerged in May.
The team was removed from the Championship play-offs after acknowledging that it had monitored three rival clubs, while head coach Tonda Eckert was charged with misconduct by the Football Association last week.
What do you feel about this post?
Like
Love
Happy
Haha
Sad
