Tanya Oxtoby says deciding to leave her job as Northern Ireland women’s manager wasn’t easy, but she believes moving to Newcastle United came at the right time.
The 43-year-old Australian spent two years in charge of Northern Ireland after taking over in 2023. This week, she stepped down to become the new manager of Newcastle United in the Women’s Championship, England’s second division.
Oxtoby has coached in the UK for nearly a decade, including a spell managing Bristol City from 2018 to 2021. She said she missed working with players every day and wanted to return to full-time coaching. Newcastle’s strong facilities and big ambitions also made the job hard to turn down.
She hopes she can help the club reach the Women’s Super League (WSL).
Oxtoby leaves behind a young Northern Ireland squad that she helped guide through a rebuilding phase. But she says the move was the right one for her career and her family.
“Being out on the training pitch every day is something I really missed,” she told BBC Sport. “It wasn’t an easy decision for me or my family. We had to think about it carefully.
“As international breaks got longer and my little boy got older, being away so much became harder. I wanted to get back to working with players daily, and I was really craving that again.”
