This week, TribalFootball.com talked with Randy Waldrum, who was named as Nigeria's women's national team head coach at the end of 2020; the Super Falcons recently had their first set of games in over a year and he led his new team to the Turkish Women's Cup Tournament title. We also look at some encouraging news about lower-level women's teams in England who are planning to professionalize their operations. We also preview our two-part annual review of the Westfield W-League's 2020/21 regular season, which ends this week.

Nigeria wins the Turkish Women's Cup

Veteran American head coach Randy Waldrum was appointed as Nigeria's women's national team coach late in 2020, succeeding Swedish head coach Thomas Dennerby, who guided Nigeria to the Round of 16 in France 2019 and is now coaching India's women's U-17 national team, which will host the age group WWC next year. Waldrum is an experienced coach at the college professional club level as well as at with national teams, having guided the University of Notre Dame to two NCAA Division I College Cup national titles (2004 and 2010) in 14 years at the Indiana-based school. He also coached the Houston Dash of the NWSL from 2014 to 2017 while also guiding Trinidad and Tobago's women's national team to the brink of qualifying for the 2015 Women's World Cup Finals, only falling short from a last second goal to Ecuador in the CONMEBOL-CONCACAF play-in series for the final tournament spot

Nigeria won the tournament title last month at the Turkish Women's Cup—also known as the Alanya Gold City Cup—in which they defeated CSKA Moscow 1-0 on February 18, Uzbekistan by the same 1-0 score line on February 20 and then Equatorial Guinea 9-0 three days after that. Nigeria's Asisat Oshoala (Barcelona of Spain) scored four goals in the three games to win the Golden Boot. Waldrum reflected on his first experience with Nigeria, "[It was] the first time I met anyone face-to-face [from Nigeria]. I was really pleased obviously by winning the event and the way we played, considering we didn't have any time together. We had 3 games in a short span [5 days] so you don't really have any training time—you go live for a game, have a recovery session and live for a game again. You didn't have any real training sessions except the day or two before the first game. We tried to lay out the game models and way I wanted to play. I thought the players were really receptive to it….There's a lot of work to do. We haven't had time together. Considering everything, I've got to be pleased with it."

Significantly, other than winning African Championships (eleven to date) it was the first ever trophy won by the full Nigerian women's national team in Europe—in fact their first ever win outside of Africa.

With Nigeria not involved in the Tokyo Olympic Games Final this summer, falling on the away goals rule after a 1-1 aggregate tie to Cote d'Ivoire in October of 2019—which incidentally ended up being their last international game before the tournament in Turkey—Waldrum has a nice breaking-in period to continue to implement his ideas and plans with the squad, describing 2021 as, "A preparation year for Nigeria, which is really a great opportunity for me to work with them and get prepared. They had been off for 14 months and that was too long. This year it's important to get games and the Federation is working on additional events."

Waldrum talked about his long-term ideas for developing Nigeria's national youth teams through the next 2-3 Women's World Cup cycles, "The problem for a lot of countries, not just Nigeria, but it was clearly displayed when I was working with Trinidad and Tobago, [is that there is] no real continuity of a plan in place for a vision that is ten years down the road. A lot of countries just operate in the present, three months out [they] start preparing for a World Cup or qualification, with no long-term vision of where you want things to be ten years from now….If the goal of the Federation is to compete for World Cups, you can't do it year-to-year or event-to-event… I think it is important to get all of our youth teams on the same page. It doesn't mean I have to coach all the youth teams by any means—that's not realistic, but we have to have some continuity with what we are trying to do with the senior team and we need to have the U-20's with the same kind of vision, game models and preparation and with the U-17's and U-15's, on down the ladder. I think having a plan of saying, 'We want to do as well as we can now in each of their respective World Cups or tournaments we are playing for,' we need to prepare for them now, but let's also put a long-term plan in place so that maybe that young player in the U-15 or [even] a 12 or 13 year old, ten years from now they will be helping you win a World Cup. Otherwise we will continue the cycle of just being good in the moment for the events that come up."

I say, "Amen to this." This thinking is a major component of why you hire someone with such vast experience in the women's game like Randy Waldrum. He can coach at the senior national team level as good as anyone in the world. Thomas Dennerby did a fine job of taking was for Nigeria out of the group stage of the 2019 Women's World Cup for only the second time in eight appearances all-time. Waldrum can take them to the next level, to be a threat for a final four spot at a WWC, while also implementing a long-term vision for player development in Nigeria. This is a perfect time for him to help further develop an excellent core of experience internationals—many of whom play with clubs abroad—and I think in the future, we will look back and say how important his hire was to women's football in Nigeria.

Waldrum felt that Nigerian Football Federation executives are open to those ideas but they can't be done overnight, "There's some planning that can be done so that we make sure the youth leagues are running properly, that the elite players are getting training on a year-round basis [and] training with the best players possible in addition to their youth teams and have a built-in plan of player development, to make sure all of those young players are getting exactly what they need to be ready ten years from now, to represent the country with the senior team." A key element for Waldrum is looking for those players outside of the larger cities and in more rural areas or with smaller clubs in order to, "Find players outside of the major areas—create something in between our national teams and clubs—[so that] a system is in place so they are getting pushed on a year-round basis." Waldrum explained all of the top national teams do this sort of planning, i.e., the U.S. France and Germany. He felt that all women's national team programs need to do this work and though he doesn't have the answer for Nigeria's model yet, it will be generated as he learns more about the domestic game in Nigeria through what he refers to as "an honest analysis." This long-term plan will help Nigeria to be successful at future youth and senior Women's World Cups.

He had a few new diaspora that he brought into the camp in Turkey—Toni Payne (ex-Duke University who plays with Sevilla of Spain) and Patricia George (ex-University of Illinois who now plays in Germany with SC Sand). See the roster for Nigeria's side at the Turkish Cup in our recent column: (The Week in Women's Football: Euros 2022 qualifiers; USWNT takes out SheBelievesCup; Nigeria triumphs; - Tribal Football." He said that adding diaspora to a national team program is a political topic and he faced it in Trinidad and Tobago, "Some didn't want you to go out and sign players with heritage; others said we want to win and if they meet requirements [then do it]. Same in Mexico and Nigeria. I understand the feelings involved but it is important to look at those types of players to be more successful in the respective age groups. With the 'Win Now' mentality you have to look at those kinds of players. [For the youth national teams] We should look at [young ones] but the flip side comes in [where] we want to develop those players in Nigeria and the club teams and domestic leagues are good. There is a balance but, until we get things in place in Nigeria, we are providing resources for all players to develop; we still have to look at the diaspora players if you want to be successful now. Most people will understand." Waldrum is committed to developing the domestic players in Nigeria, emphasizing that, "They shouldn't be forgotten or throw them away just for the sake of going to find someone playing in Europe somewhere….We want to invest in domestic players as we grow the program."

Waldrum emphasized that there are special players out there that all teams are looking for. Mexico has long recruited players for their youth national teams from the U.S. and a quick look at a few national league rosters revealed players of Nigerian descent who have been capped at the youth level by Australia, Italy, Sweden and the U.K. Other African countries in particular could have these types of special players as well. Just last week, we featured Sophia Braun of Gonzaga University, who was recruited for Argentina's U-20 national team program and was capped last month at the senior level in the SheBelieves Cup (see: The Week in Women's Football: Interview with Argentina midfielder Braun; Davis moves to Israel; Ifill appointed Samoa coach; - Tribal Football.) Earlier this year we featured Nicole Kozlova, a native of Canada who plays at Virginia Tech University and internationally for Ukraine since appearing with their U-17's and was an essential component of the senior side that finished second in 2022 Women's EURO qualifying and will play Northern Ireland home and away next month for a spot in the Finals in England (see: The Week in Women's Football: Interview with Ukraine star Kozlova; Damallsvenskan shock; Spirit visit Qatar - Tribal Football). Waldrum is being rightly cautious in utilizing foreign-born players and most countries look only to add a few top players—the Republic of Ireland as an example has done this on the women's side over the years even as the men's side liberally recruited players born outside of the country to great success in the 1990's. The other side of the equation was demonstrated by Greece in 2004, when they had eight Americans of Greek descent added to their roster leading up to the 2004 Olympic Games so that they wouldn't be embarrassed, which they hosted. The strategy largely worked but then the Greek Federation put the program into mothballs for economic reasons for 14 months and, when they restarted the side for the China 2007 Women's World Cup Qualifiers in late 2005, they refused to bring back a few of the Americans who were willing to play for their adopted country at their own expense. The team bombed out of the group stage with eight losses, scoring only twice against 28 goals allowed and has never been close to qualifying for a major UEFA or World Tournament since the shutdown after 2004.

Randy Waldrum has a dream job with Nigeria and has started off with the side's first international tournament trophy outside of CAF. If he is given the time and the resources, he will not only have the chance to take the Super Falcons deep into the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia/New Zealand, he will be implementing a long-term vision for soccer development in the country that will benefit Nigeria at all levels. It will be fascinating to watch this story unfold.

More Investment coming in English women's teams below the WSL level

Two teams in England have announced that they are making significant plans to boost their women's program, including adding academies and making efforts to eventually win promotion to the WSL.

Lewes, based in East Sussex, are currently in sixth place in the Women's Championship, the second tier of women's football in England, with 6 wins, 4 ties and 6 losses for 22 points. Though promotion to the WSL is probably not in the cards this year as they are 19 points behind leaders Leicester City in the race for the lone promotion spot, they are making plans to eventually be able to join the top tier. Fashion brand Lyle and Scott made a six-figure investment in the club in December, a substantial sum for the community-owned team who plan to become a full-time side beginning this summer and start their own academy. Lewes general manager Maggie Murphy said, "It's been no secret that a small community-owned club like Lewes struggles financially and the pandemic has not been easy at all, so that investment in the middle of it has allowed us to feel a little bit more secure in where we are now and also in helping us realize our ambitions….We also want to be able to establish a solid academy team and invest in our young players that are coming through the ranks. We want to focus on their development as players and as people so we're already working with schools and universities."

The club recently signed Nigerian international Ini Umotong (26) from Swedish Damallsvenskan side Vaxjo; Umotong formerly played with Brighton and Hove Albion for two seasons in the WSL after the Seagulls won promotion following the 2017/18 season, as well as with Oxford and Plymouth and for her country at the 2015 Women's World Cup. Another international on the side is New Zealand international midfielder Katie Rood (28), who has been with Lewes for three seasons and spent a campaign with Juventus in Italy in 2017-18.

Burnley FC, in the third tier Women's National League First Division, is another club with goals to eventually achieve a WSL spot by 2025. Currently in tenth place in the National League's North Division with 3 wins, 1 tie and 3 losses for 10 points, the club has integrated into the men's professional side this season and plans to go fully professionally. Burnley also plans to create a women's academy. The women's side ultimately will share the Barnfield Training Centre facilities with the men's side and will seek new international partnerships as it continues to develop the women's program development. Alan Pace, the Chairman of Burnley FC, said, "The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was arguably a turning point for the women's game, attracting new fans and inspiring men and women all over the world to see football in a new light. The global pandemic has since had a huge impact on women's football, but I believe it has a major role to play in the sport's future growth, bringing in new audiences and demographics. Burnley FC is an inclusive club for all and today's announcement signals our intent to put women's football at the very heart of it. Over the coming seasons we will fully support and invest in our new women's football strategy, with the ambition to gain promotion to the FA Women's Championship within four years and ultimately become a full-time professional outfit."

All credit to Lewes and Burnley for stepping up their investment and promotion of the women's game. With the WSL being arguably now the best women's league in the world and with a huge global presence in its tenth season, the steps that these lower division clubs are taking to join the top tier loop are great to see and hopefully their supporters will be seeing them play FA WSL games at home in the foreseeable future.

Next Week—Part I of our Australian Westfield W-League 2020/21 Season Review

Next week will feature Part 1 of our annual Australia Westfield W-League regular season wrap-up for all nine teams, as we follow the playoffs as well. This season has seen Adelaide United post a historic number of wins and points, while four time champions Melbourne City crashed down the table, Canberra United won three games in injury-time and Rhali Dobson scored in her last game for Melbourne City as she recently announced her retirement from the game, and then her boyfriend proposed to her at the end of the game (she said yes). We will have all of these stories and more in the next two weeks.

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