Denise Reddy (born September 14, 1970) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach for

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in the

FA Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

. Reddy holds a UEFA Pro License and previously coached

Sky Blue FC NJ/NY Gotham FC is a professional women's soccer team based in Harrison, New Jersey. Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 until 2020. A founding member of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2013 ...

of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

. She has also served as an assistant coach to Jim Gabarra at Washington Spirit and as head coach of Linköpings FC and Vittsjö GIK in Sweden, B.93/HIK/Skjold in Denmark, and Jersey Sky Blue of the USL W-League (1995–2015), USL W-League. She played four years as a starter at Rutgers University and 11 years as a professional in Sweden. Reddy is from Hazlet, New Jersey and graduated from Raritan High School.

Playing career

Rutgers University, 1988–1991

Reddy was a four-year starter for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights#Women.27s soccer, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, from 1988 to 1991. During that span, the Scarlet Knights won two Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship titles, and Reddy was named to the NSCAA All-America second team in 1991. During her collegiate career, she scored 5 goals and 9 assists in 81 appearances. Reddy also played for the Rutgers women's basketball team from 1990 to 1993, including an appearance in the 1993 Atlantic 10 Championship. She received her bachelor's degree in exercise science and communications.

Sweden, 1995–2005

After college, Reddy joined Swedish side Umeå IK in 1995, then moved to FC Rosengård, Malmö DFF in 1996, where she played for 10 years. For seven of those seasons, from 1999 to 2005, Reddy was the team's captain. During Reddy's time on the team, Malmö DFF won the 1997 Swedish Cup, reached the semifinals of the 2003–04 UEFA Women's Cup, and appeared in the 2005 Mediterranean International Cup championship. During her career at Malmö DFF, she scored 35 goals in 336 appearances.

Coaching career

Youth and non-professional, 1989–2005

Reddy coached in the New Jersey Olympic Development Program (ODP) from 1989 to 1994, and served as an assistant coach at Cornell University in 1994. During her professional playing career, Reddy also coached or was an assistant trainer at Borger (1996–2001) and Procivitas (2004–2005) high school academies in Sweden.

New Jersey Wildcats, 2006–2007

Charlie Naimo, then head coach of holding USL W-League (1995–2015), USL W-League champions New Jersey Wildcats, hired Reddy as an assistant in April 2006, following her retirement as a professional player.

Jersey Sky Blue, 2007–2008

After the season, she was hired as the head coach of the W-League's Jersey Sky Blue, where she served until 2008. Jersey Sky Blue was chaired by Thomas Hofstetter, who would go on to form

in 2009, and Reddy is credited as one of the club's founders and instrumental in the establishment of the Sky Blue Soccer School.

Chicago Red Stars, 2008–2010

Reddy joined the coaching staff of the Chicago Red Stars of Women's Professional Soccer in 2008 as an assistant, where she served until 2010.

Linköpings FC, 2011–2012

Reddy was hired by Linköpings FC of the Swedish Damallsvenskan in 2011 as an assistant, a year in which Linköpings reached the 2010–11 UEFA Women's Champions League, UEFA Women's Champions League quarterfinals. She became a co-head coach with Christian Anderson in 2012.

B.93/HIK/Skjold, 2012–2014

Reddy coached Danish side B.93/HIK/Skjold from 2012 to 2014.

Vittsjö GIK, 2015–2016

Reddy joined Swedish club Vittsjö GIK as head coach in January 2015, and remained with the team into 2016.

Washington Spirit, 2016–2017

In the

, former Sky Blue FC head coach Jim Gabarra took over as head coach of the Washington Spirit after the departure of Mark Parsons to Portland Thorns FC. Gabarra hired Reddy as a defensive assistant coach, where she served until November 2017. Reddy was also the Spirit's Maryland Developmental Academy director.

Sky Blue FC, 2017–2019

On November 15, 2017, Sky Blue FC named Reddy as their new head coach, succeeding Christy Holly, who resigned during the 2017 National Women's Soccer League season. Reddy was briefly the only woman as a head coach in the NWSL, between the departure of Laura Harvey from Seattle Reign FC at the start of November 2017 to November 27, when Laura Harvey was hired to manage Utah Royals FC and Vera Pauw was named head coach of the Houston Dash. On June 28, 2019, Reddy was relieved of her head coaching duties.

Chelsea, 2020–present

Reddy joined

as assistant coach on August 19, 2020.

References

External links

Washington Spirit assistant coach profile

Linköpings FC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reddy, Denise 1970 births Living people National Women's Soccer League coaches NJ/NY Gotham FC coaches People from Hazlet, New Jersey Soccer players from New Jersey Sportspeople from Monmouth County, New Jersey American women's soccer coaches American expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Women's association football defenders Rutgers Scarlet Knights women's soccer players Damallsvenskan players American women's soccer players FC Rosengård players Washington Spirit non-playing staff