Costa becomes first woman to manage at senior men’s level

That Celtic would welcome the appointment of a former scout for the club to a managerial position in the second tier of French football would normally not merit much in the way of headlines except that, in this instance, the former scout is Helena Costa who, at 39, will become the first woman to manage at a senior level in the men’s European game when she takes over Ligue 2 side Clermont Foot at the end of this season.

In becoming the first female manager of a French professional club, the highly qualified Costa is being rewarded for her successes as coach to the male youth team at Benfica and the women’s national teams of Qatar and, most recently, Iran. But she has also has experience of the senior men’s game as a scout in Portugal and Spain for Celtic from 2008 to 2011.

Congratulating the Portuguese woman on her ground-breaking new role, a spokesman for the Scottish champions said yesterday: “She did an excellent job for us and we know she will give her new position the same high level of commitment and dedication which she gave to Celtic.”

Announcing her appointment, Clermont said that it would allow the club to “begin a new era” while defender Anthony Lippini told L’Equipe that he’s eager to see what this latest French revolution will bring.

“I was talking with my physiotherapist about the time when the first woman entered the army — a very macho environment,” he said. “At first, there was a lot of shock. But now, women in the army has become normal. This may be the same in football.

“I cannot wait to return next season to be a part of it. I’m really curious. It will be a unique experience to be the first professional football team to be managed by a woman France. It is good. It creates a buzz.”

The only other woman to have coached a professional men’s team in Europe is Carolina Morace, one of the most highly decorated players in the Italian women’s game. In 1999, she took over as manager of the Third Division team Viterbese but then stepped down after just two games citing constant media pressure.

Meanwhile, Setanta Sports revealed they will be broadcasting two Republic of Ireland friendlies this summer against Italy on May 31 and Portugal on June 11.