'She expressed feelings for me' - Sacked coach who slept with his player opens up

'She expressed feelings for me' - Sacked coach who slept with his player opens up

Hassan Abdulsalam 14:45 - 10.05.2024

Former Scottish Cup winner Kirk, who managed a women’s football team, was dismissed after he allegedly had an affair with one of his players.

Six weeks after his dismissal, former Leicester City manager Willie Kirk has clarified what went out before he was dismissed by the WSL club.

The former Scottish Cup winner was sacked by Leicester City after he was accused of having a romantic relationship with one of his players.

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However, Willie Kirk, who had been in management for the last 14 years revealed that it was the player who initiated the relationship..

Addressing the controversial relationship with a player that led to his sacking, Kirk told Daily Mail, "One of the players contacted me away from work to express their feelings for me. I said “that is ridiculous” and just shut it down. That was that."

He continued, "It’s never going to happen; there’s a code of conduct. Things changed when the player picked up an injury at the end of last year. ‘I think this is what justified it to us.

"She picked up an injury at the tail end of the calendar year and was doing her rehab away from the training ground. Just before Christmas, I agreed to meet on a personal level. She was injured, so it wasn’t going to stop me from doing my job because she couldn’t be selected.

"Obviously I was trying to justify it to myself, which never made it right. After Christmas, we started seeing each other once a week, so she’d come here, or the week after, I’d go to hers. We would arrive in the dark, we would leave in the dark, clearly because we knew it was wrong."

Kirk arrived at Leicester in July 2022 as Director of Football, and stepped into different role later that year. After Lydia Bedford's departure, he took the reins as manager.

The team was in a dire situation, sitting rock bottom with no points after six games. Kirk's leadership helped Leicester to staged a stunning turnaround and secure a dramatic escape from relegation.

Leicester City Women are currently in 10th position in the WSL, having gathered 18 points from 21 games.

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