Who is Hege Riise? England appoint interim Lionesses coach

Hege Riise has joined the England women coaching staff on a short-term contract and will lead the Lionesses as interim manager at next month's planned training camp following Phil Neville’s early departure on Monday.

Riise had already applied for a position in the coaching setup when the assistant manager job was vacated in November by Rehanne Skinner, who left to take over at Tottenham. Former Canada international Rhian Wilkinson has also joined the staff after applying for the same role.

The FA have already identified and appointed Sarina Wiegman as a permanent successor to Neville, who has now officially been appointed by MLS club Inter Miami, but she will not take up her role until the autumn when her current contract as Netherlands coach expires.

It unclear how long Riise will be in charge for and whether she will be tasked with leading Great Britain at the delayed Tokyo Olympics in summer. The FA is tasked with overseeing Team GB and will assess the situation again once England's February training camp is concluded.

Who is Hege Riise?

Already a legend of the women’s game from her playing career, Riise has become an esteemed coach over the last decade.

The 51-year-old was nominated for the 2020 Best FIFA Women’s Coach award alongside other top names like Emma Hayes, Jean-Luc Vasseur and eventual winner Wiegman, who also won in 2017 and was runner-up in 2018 and 2019 – a good omen for England.

Riise’s nomination came off the back of a sixth consecutive league title with Norwegian club LSK Kvinner. Five of those seasons also yielded a national cup, while they consistently competed with wealthier sides in the Champions League and reached the quarter-finals in 2018/19.

Prior to her role at LSK, Riise was a coach in the USWNT setup.

As a player, Riise was among the best in the world throughout the 1990s and early 2000s in a very strong Norway side that won every major international tournament.

Norway won the 1993 European Championship and were the last country other than Germany to lift the trophy until Wiegman guided the Netherlands to glory 24 years later.

Riise came to global prominence in the women’s game when she was named best player at the 1995 World Cup as Norway were crowned champions. She scored five goals in the tournament, including the first in the final against Germany, and was noted for bringing technical quality and vision to a team that was otherwise known for its physicality.

Riise and Norway went on to win a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in 1996, before winning a gold medal at the 2000 tournament, beating reigning champions USA in the final. She later played club football in the United States, where many of the best players in the world were based.

Style of Coaching

In her own words, Riise is a coach who wants to feel like she is making a difference to every single player under her tutelage and build close personal connections through calm interactions.

“As a coach, my style is to listen more than I speak,” she told FIFA.com last year.

“I look to involve my players in decisions, to give them trust and also, I hope, some calmness to do their jobs. When I look back to the coaches who got the best out of me, I think I’m quite similar in my approach. I like close connections with my players, and to be open to chat – not only about coaching and football, but about everything.

“I feel like it’s my responsibility to bring something to each player I work with, and to develop them in some way. For me that’s what being a coach is. I’ve never had a problem relating to a player who doesn’t have the attributes I had as a player. Bringing out the best in players, whatever their skills are, is a challenge I really enjoy.”

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