# Clinton Lancaster

Clinton Richard Lancaster (born 20 April 1988 in Ivybridge) is a professional football coach and manager from England who was most recently the manager of Scottish Women's Premier League team Aberdeen FC. Lancaster is a member of the League Managers Association and holds the LMA Diploma in Football Management. Lancaster has produced coaching sessions that have been featured in the Elite Soccer Magazine.

## Early career

Following his studies at Ivybridge Community College in Devon Lancaster went onto attend the University of St Mark and St John in Plymouth studying for a degree in sports coaching and Physical Education. During that time Lancaster coached the university football team and started work on his coaching badges.
Following completion of his second year at university, Lancaster was offered a job coaching within the youth development at Plymouth Argyle Football Club. Lancaster coached at the youth development centres and within the community trust.
In February 2011, Lancaster moved from Plymouth Argyle to Chelsea FC to continue working in youth development. During his time at Chelsea, he first started coaching at the Girls Centre of Excellence (now Regional Talent Club - RTC) with Chelsea FC Women.

## Crystal Palace FC

In August 2014, Lancaster joined Crystal Palace to coach boys in their Football Development Centres. Lancaster's first involvement within senior women's football came at Crystal Palace FC when he was offered the role of managing the women's under-21s team in the FA Women's National League.
Ahead of the 2015/16 season, and following a successful first year with Crystal Palace F.C. under 21s, Lancaster was promoted to first-team coach with the senior women's team. In his first season with the first team, they won the FA Women's National League South East, going the entire season unbeaten as well as winning the FA Surrey County Cup.

## Watford FC

Ahead of the 2016/17 season, Lancaster joined Watford FC Women to manage their women's under-21s team in the FA WSL development league. At the time the women's first team was competing in the FA Womens Super League 2 (now the FA Womens Championship) under the guidance of Keith Boanas.
In 2019 following the club's demotion into the third tier, Lancaster was offered the role of first-team manager. He was immediately tasked with rebuilding the team and achieving promotion back to the Championship. Following a successful 2020/21 campaign that saw the club win all but 2 games (1 draw, 1 defeat) and ended with Watford FC Women top of the National League table, the club was awarded promotion back into the FA Women's Championship.
During his time as manager Lancaster guided Watford FC Women to the final of the FA Women's National League plate and won individual honours, picking up the December 2019 Manager of the Month award. Away from the pitch Lancaster continued to support the growth of the women's game, and helped promote the upcoming UEFA Women's Euro in 2022. In their second game of the season, Lancaster's Watford faced eventual league winners Liverpool FC and narrowly lost 3-2 at Vicarage Road.
In December 2021 Lancaster parted ways with Watford FC Women leaving the club 11th out of 12 in the Championship level on points with Coventry United Women.

## Aldershot Town FC

In February 2022, Lancaster joined Aldershot Town FC where he worked in their boy's academy. Lancaster coached the boys under 15s before taking the same age group into under 16s. Lancaster coached the boy's academy to win the Under 18s Allied Counties Youth League.

## Aberdeen FC

In July 2023, Lancaster was appointed the first full-time manager of Aberdeen FC Women competing in the Scottish Women's Premier League. Lancaster was tasked with keeping the Women's team in the division. His first job was to select Dutch international and former Aston Villa player Nadine Hansen as his new captain. His first signing was a statement signing bringing in the services of England Women U19s youth international Faye Kirby on loan from Liverpool Women.
Lancaster's Aberdeen adopted a style of football that caught the eye of fans and football experts in Scotland. Aberdeen adopted a possession based style of football under Lancaster, where he wanted his team to control the ball. Lancaster spoke about his ideas on a BBC Sounds Podcast with Scotland Women's Captain Rachel Corsie and Leanne Crichton. In one of Lancaster's final games in charge of Aberdeen Women, they faced Montrose Women at Pittodrie Stadium. The game saw Aberdeen Women achieve a record attendance of 2,000 spectators. The game ended 3-3, with Aberdeen remaining unbeaten against local rivals Montrose all season.
Lancaster guided Aberdeen Women to their highest-ever points total in the Scottish Women's Premier League (40 points), comfortably achieving the club's target of keeping Aberdeen in the league. Lancaster did so with a 41.18% win percentage.
In July 2024, Lancaster made the decision to resign from his position as Aberdeen Women's Manager to be closer to his family in England.
Since returning from Aberdeen, Lancaster has been coaching the Men's B team squad at Aldershot Town FC.