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 James Michael Gabarra (born September 22, 1959) is an American retired soccer forward who coached the Washington Spirit National Women's Soccer League team, and previously coached Sky Blue FC and the Washington Freedom women's soccer teams. He ...

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit is an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area that participates in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the W-League and cont ...

and as head coach of

Linköpings FC Linköpings Fotboll Club is an association football club from Linköping, Sweden. The club was established in 2003 when Kenty DFF women's football club decided to merge with the premier division ice hockey club Linköpings HC under the new name L ...

and

Vittsjö GIK Vittsjö Gymnastik- och Idrottsklubb is a football club from Vittsjö, Sweden. They play in the highest level of women's soccer leagues in Sweden, the Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OB ...

in Sweden, B.93/HIK/Skjold in Denmark, and

Jersey Sky Blue Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues was an American women’s soccer team, founded in 2006. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues USL W-League, W-League, the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States and Canada. The team p ...

of the

USL W-League The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

. She played four years as a starter at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

and 11 years as a professional in Sweden. Reddy is from

Hazlet, New Jersey Hazlet is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The township is located near the Raritan Bay within the Raritan Valley region. It is located in the New York Metropolitan Area and is a bedroom community of New York. As of th ...

and graduated from

Raritan High School Raritan High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Hazlet Township in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the Hazl ...

Playing career

Rutgers University, 1988–1991

Reddy was a four-year starter for the

Rutgers Scarlet Knights The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are the athletic teams that represent Rutgers University's New Brunswick campus. In sports, Rutgers is famously known for being the "Birthplace of College Football", hosting the first ever intercollegiate football ...

, 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 Umeå IK () is a professional association football club based in the city of Umeå, in northern Sweden, and currently playing Damallsvenskan, the first tier of women's football in Sweden. They were one of the most successful football clubs in ...

in 1995, then moved to 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 The third UEFA Women's Cup The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European ...

, 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 Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

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 Charlie Naimo is currently the technical director of the Western New York Flash in the National Women's Soccer League. Naimo started his USL coaching career in 1998 with the Central Jersey Splash of the W-League. He coached the Splash for two se ...

, then head coach of holding

champions

New Jersey Wildcats The New Jersey Wildcats is an American women’s soccer team, founded by Vincent Baldino in 1996. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues W-League, the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States and Canada. The team played ...

, 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

, where she served until 2008. Jersey Sky Blue was chaired by

Thomas Hofstetter Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

, 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 The Chicago Red Stars are a professional women's soccer club based in Bridgeview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league, they have played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) sin ...

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 sea ...

in 2008 as an assistant, where she served until 2010.

Linköpings FC, 2011–2012

Reddy was hired by

of the Swedish

Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is also referred to as the women's Allsvenskan. The term Allsvenskan ...

in 2011 as an assistant, a year in which Linköpings reached the

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

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

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

took over as head coach of the

after the departure of

Mark Parsons Mark Richard David Parsons (born 8 August 1986) is an English football manager who is currently the head coach of American club Washington Spirit. He had previously managed the Netherlands women's national team and the Portland Thorns FC. Pa ...

Portland Thorns FC The Portland Thorns FC is an American professional women's soccer team based in Portland, Oregon. Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), which receives support from the Uni ...

. 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 Christy Holly (born 21 December 1984) is a Northern Irish former footballer and coach. From August 12, 2020 to August 31, 2021, he was the head coach of Racing Louisville in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). He previously coached NWSL ...

, who resigned during the

2017 National Women's Soccer League season The 2017 National Women's Soccer League season was the fifth season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer (200 ...

. Reddy was briefly the only woman as a head coach in the NWSL, between the departure of

Laura Harvey Laura Harvey (born 15 May 1980) is an English football manager and former player who currently manages OL Reign of the American National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She holds USSF "A" and UEFA "A" coaching licenses. Harvey previously managed ...

from

Seattle Reign FC OL Reign is an American professional women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, ...

at the start of November 2017 to November 27, when

was hired to manage

Utah Royals FC Utah Royals FC was an American women's professional soccer club based in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy, Utah. Established on November 16, 2017, as an expansion club, the Royals played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) from 2018 ...

and

Vera Pauw Vera Pauw (; born 18 January 1963) is a Dutch Women's association football, football coach and former player. She currently manages the Republic of Ireland women's national football team. She has managed several national women's football teams, i ...

was named head coach of the

Houston Dash The Houston Dash is a professional women's soccer team based in Houston, Texas. It joined the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in the 2014 season, and is affiliated with the MLS team Houston Dynamo FC. History Establishment On November ...

. 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