The Big Interview: Kelly Cousins
Having swapped one Royals for another, the former Reading boss opens up about the challenges she left behind as she embarks on a new adventure with NWSL side Utah Royals...
“It’s been quite refreshing if I’m honest,” says Kelly Cousins, when I ask how it’s been leaving behind everything she’s ever known and moving across the Atlantic with her family.
Better known by her maiden name of Kelly Chambers to fans of the Barclays Women’s Super League, newly-married Cousins and husband Phil, along with their two children, have moved to Utah as Cousins becomes the Sporting Director of returning NWSL franchise Utah Royals ahead of the 2024 season.
It’s a far cry from what she’s used to, and ends an association which spanned over 15 years with Reading Football Club, where she served as a player and club captain, coach, manager and director of football, before the financial strain on the club eventually led to relegated at the end of last season.
“The WSL is a league that I love, but I fancied a change to broaden my horizon in terms of something away from Reading…”
Cousins has switched one Royals for another, and admits it was time for a reset and something fresh to challenge her after her spell at Reading became more and more difficult to manage.
“I’ll always have a love for Reading, obviously I was there for many, many years,” she says from her office, having only moved to Utah a fortnight ago.
“The hardest thing for me was I couldn’t see any progression at Reading anymore. Over here, it’s a new league for me and one thing is its broadening my horizons on women’s football around the world. The NWSL has been a leading league, the WSL has kicked on and improved, and things are done so differently here.
“It’s a big change, it’s a move across the world, but the whole package, life experience, work experience, learning something completely new and being something that if you like is starting from scratch and how we can build that is exciting. I pretty much did that at Reading, this is a bit different in terms of the rules around the league but it’s something different and something refreshing. The WSL is a league that I love, but I fancied a change to broaden my horizon in terms of something away from Reading.”
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When I describe learning her way around a completely different league and rulebook as a “crash course”, she laughs and admits it’s “probably the right word” as Cousins battles to get up to speed with the upcoming free agency window, expansion draft, college draft and international window.
It’s a world away from what she has been used to, but she’s far from the first and won’t be the last to make the step, following in the paths of the likes of Casey Stoney, Marc Skinner, Matt Beard and many more who swapped England for the USA.
Right now, her full focus is building a roster for the 2024 season, alongside former Royals and USA legend Amy Rodriguez, who has been confirmed as the team’s head coach.
“Like you said, I know a lot of managers and different people who have been over here and that for me was it, learning something new.
“In terms of how different it is, acquiring players etc, we have to build a roster of 26 and there’s only certain ways you can do that. We’re going through the free agency period right now; a big chunk of our roster will be current NWSL players and then it’s the expansion draft.
“That will acquire nearly 50% of our team, then it’s the international window in January and the college draft. I’ve just been like a sponge, I want to learn and I’ve got the right people around me who understand the league inside out, know every rule and if there’s anything I’ve not known, I can ask questions.”
Cousins admits the opportunity came “out of the blue” and wasn’t something she was actively seeking as she pondered her options as relegation to the Championship with Reading was confirmed.
Then one day a phone call arrived from a head-hunter across the pond which led to Cousins uprooting her entire life and moving across the pond.
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