Club Chairman Aaron Smith will step away from his temporary role in the dugout this week to welcome Lally to the lead role of the Sirens Senior management team.

“James was my first choice for this role,” Smith said. “Whenever I’ve seen him work, he has worked with passion, integrity and patience.”

Lally is no stranger to the South West side of the FA Women’s National League, having managed Swindon Town in 2022/23 and starting this season as Head Coach at Abingdon United over their preseason.

“I am delighted to be appointed as manager of a club with so much history in the women’s game,” Lally said. “I’m looking forward to meeting the players this week.”

He has also worked in the Reserves section of the FAWNL as the Cheltenham Reserves manager last year.

They reached the final of their County Cup and finished third in the League behind Bournemouth and Portsmouth.

His background lies in neuroscience, cognitive science, and skill acquisition and human movement science, which led to him working in research roles on vision and its role in elite sport.

His most recent qualification is a PGCE in Science from the University of Oxford.

Smith also said: “He has high standards and good technical detail in his delivery, which is exactly what we are looking for in a manager at this club, in order to lead our resurgence up this division and further.”

“For now, [my aim] is to get this club back to where it belongs, challenging at the top end of the National League,” Lally said.

“[I will] be working with a great group of staff to develop an environment that gets the best out of the players on and off the pitch.”

Smith will remain in the dugout for tomorrow night’s fixture against Bournemouth Sports, making Lally’s first game in charge this Sunday (the winner of tomorrow’s game will play Moneyfields).

Southampton Women’s FC vs Bournemouth Sports
19:45 KO - Tuesday 10th September 2024
Totton & Eling FC

Follow live coverage of the game on our Twitter - @sotonwomensfc