Jitka Klimková (born 20 August 1974) is a Czech football coach and former football player. In September 2021 she was appointed head coach of the Football Ferns, the

New Zealand women's national football team The New Zealand women's national football team represents New Zealand in international women's association football, football competitions, and is governed by New Zealand Football (NZF). They are nicknamed the Football Ferns. The New Zealand n ...

Biography

During her playing career she played for Sokol Čejč, Slávia Holíč and DFC Compex Otrokovice in the

Czech Women's First League The Czech Women's First League (), known as the FORTUNA=LIGA for sponsorship reasons, is the top level women's football league of the Czech Republic. The league is dominated by teams of Prague. Slavia Prague won the last championships, Sparta Prag ...

. She was briefly a member of the Czech national team, playing as a defender. She has coached the United States women's u-20 team, United States women's under-19 team,

Canberra United Canberra United Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. Founded in 2008 by Capital Football, the club was an inaugural member of the W-League and the only club not affiliated with ...

in Australia's W-League, 1.FC Slovácko, the Czech Republic women's team and Internationals Soccer Club in Ohio, USA. In Australia, she was named Coach of the Year in the W-League in 2011-12. In New Zealand, she has coached the national under-17 women’s team, including their campaign at the FIFA 2014 Under-17 Women's World Cup, and has also worked as an assistant coach with the Under-20s and the Football Ferns. Klimková is the first woman appointed to coach the Football Ferns on a full-time basis. At the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...

, she guided the Ferns to their first ever victory in the tournament, in a 1–0 victory over

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

in the opening match in Auckland. She stepped down from coaching the Football Ferns in 2024. On 21 January 2025, Klimková was appointed head coach of the

Czech Republic women's national football team The Czech Republic women's national football team is the women's association football team of the Czech Republic. Results and fixtures * The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have ...

, signed two-year contract with option.

References

1974 births Living people Czech women's footballers Czech Republic women's international footballers Czech football managers Czech expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate soccer managers in Australia A-League Women managers Expatriate association football managers in New Zealand Expatriate soccer coaches in the United States Czech expatriate sportspeople in the United States Sportspeople from Kyjov Women's association football defenders 1. FC Slovácko (women) players Czech Women's First League players Czech expatriate football managers Footballers from the South Moravian Region New Zealand women's national football team managers New Zealand women's national football team non-playing staff 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup managers Czechoslovak women's footballers Female association football managers Czech expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Czech Republic women's national football team managers A-League Women premiership–winning head coaches A-League Women championship–winning head coaches {{Czech-women-footy-bio-stub