Lauren Smith to take on WU23s interim head coach role

Lauren Smith will take charge of the England women's U23s for the first international window of 2026 while the recruitment process for a permanent successor to Emma Coates is ongoing.

Smith, who has been the head coach of the WU19s since the start of last season, will also lead the WU20s at the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in September.

She will be assisted in the February/March window by Geraint Twose, who was an important member of Sarina Wiegman’s coaching staff that won back-to-back European Championships.

The pair will be joined by former England international Izzy Christiansen, who has served as a second assistant coach for the WU23s since October. The WU23s next play France away on Monday 2 March (12pm GMT), before a home match against the Netherlands at Shrewsbury Town on Friday 6 March (7pm GMT), which tickets are now on sale for.

The vacancy left by Smith with the WU19s will be filled by John Salomon, who will move across from his head coach role with the WU16s and WU15s. Salomon will be joined by his WU15s assistant coach Sam Griffiths, as the WU19s aim to secure qualification for the UEFA Women’s U19 European Championship which will be held in Bosnia and Herzegovina in June. First up, they will travel to Spain in February for a joint WU19s and WU20s camp with three fixtures against Spain, Mexico and the Netherlands.

At WU17s level, Kerri Welsh will continue in her role as head coach, where she will be assisted by Rob Gier. The WU17s squad for the MIMA Cup was named earlier today, as the group prepares for round two of qualifying for the UEFA Women’s Under-17 European Championship in March. The finals will be held in Northern Ireland in May, where qualification for the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in October will also be on the line.

At the start of the pathway – where the focus is on early exposure to the England environment – Welsh’s assistant coach Lucy Faraday will move into the head coach role with the WU16s, supported by Shauna Duffy.

Gavin Step, women’s technical director at the FA, said: “This is such an important time for the England pathway, with three development team tournaments to qualify for in 2026, as well as the WU20s World Cup taking place in September. We’re seeing so many young players make the transition across to the seniors, so it’s really important we have consistency across the age groups. I’m really pleased to have such a brilliant coaching team in place to guide and develop the next generation of Lionesses. I wish all our coaches and players every success, and I hope 2026 is going to be another memorable year for us.”

England WU23s
Head coach: Lauren Smith
Assistant coach: Geraint Twose
Assistant coach: Izzy Christiansen
Goalkeeping coach: Wayne Brown

England WU19s
Head coach: John Salomon
Assistant coach: Sam Griffiths
Goalkeeping coach: Tom Pressman

England WU17s
Head coach: Kerri Welsh
Assistant coach: Rob Gier
Goalkeeping coach: Andy Johnston

England WU16s
Head coach: Lucy Faraday
Assistant coach: Shauna Duffy
Goalkeeping coach: Carl Kennedy