Wellington Phoenix head coach Paul Temple has a new right-hand woman.
Amy Shepherd has been appointed the assistant coach of the Phoenix for the 2024-25 Liberty A-League.
Shepherd replaces Callum Holmes, who has taken over as the female development lead at the club’s academy after two seasons as the women’s assistant coach.
She stood out from the “high level of candidates that applied for the role”.
“Amy is really experienced, having coached in the U.K., U.S. and Australia,” Temple said.
“She’s actively working in the National Premier Leagues in Australia, so she has a really good knowledge of the A-League and the up and coming players, which is really helpful.
“We’re also really aligned on the playing philosophy, which is a massive thing from my perspective.”
Shepherd will join the Phoenix in a fulltime capacity, unlike most A-League women’s assistants who are part-time.
“We’re trying to do things the right way here so it’s good that Amy can come onboard as a fulltime assistant coach.
“She’s such a great character so we’re bringing in another great person to work for the football club.
“Amy’s going to bring something a little bit different leading into the season. It’s always good to have new voices and freshen things up.
“She has some skills that really complements the coaching team and will help the players. I think she can really help us be successful.”
Originally from the U.K, where she held roles at Watford F.C. and Norwich City F.C., Amy Shepherd has coached in Australia since 2016 and is currently the director of women’s football at Sydney University SFC.
Shepherd has been the assistant coach of the Sydney Uni women’s first team for the past four seasons and has served as the assistant coach of the New South Wales’ U-15 and U-16 boys teams at the national youth championship.
She was also the head coach of the Sydney Uni team that finished fourth at the University World Cup in China last year.
“I love being an assistant coach and it’s long been an aspiration of mine to coach in the A-League,” Shepherd said.
“I’ve coached at a number of levels in Australia and I’m ready to take that next step.
“From the interview I had with the Phoenix it struck me how everyone speaks about the club.
“It sounds like there’s a really good environment to learn and develop.
“The club’s also ambitious and loyal and committed to people within it, so I’m really excited to work there.”
She is also looking forward to focusing all of her time on the assistant coach role having been “so stretched across the game for so many years”.
“I also do a lot of coach education so I was getting to a point where I needed to decide do I go into coaching or do I go into coach education?
“In football you end up doing so many different things to stay in the game so the thing that excites me the most is the fact that I’m coming into an assistant role where that’s my only job.
“My fulltime focus is being an assistant coach and how much can I give to the players and how much how I can assist Paul to get the best out of the team.”
Amy Shepherd will move to Wellington next month ahead of the start of pre-season training.
