Old Emanuel RFC is delighted to announce the appointment of a new Women's head coach ahead of the 2022/23 season. Edward Foley will oversee the women's section after several years away from the club.

Ed has a long history with the club, having played for OERFC and later brought his son through the age group where he gained his UKCC Level 2 coaching award. He was selected to help start a pilot course by the RFU to develop coaches and match officials, where his interest in developing the game for women & girls began. He went on to help set up rugby at Ricards Lodge High School in Wimbledon and coach a team to win third place at the London Youth Games.

In 2019 he was selected with a handful of other coaches across the country to stay at The Lensbury Club in 2019 and coach with Eddie Jones the following day. The next month he was also shortlisted for a Mitsubishi Volunteer of the Year Award at Twickenham.

Melanie Reilly, OERFC's Chair of Women & Girls said "I'm delighted that we have managed to entice Edward back to a senior coaching role at OE's. The development & growth of women & girls rugby is a priority for our club over the next 5 years and Edward's return is crucial to the success of the plan. His wealth of coaching and refereeing experience is the perfect platform from which to expand this section of our club."

On his recent appointment as Women's Head Coach, Edward said, "I'm glad to be coaching back at Old Emanuel RFC, amongst so many familiar members of the OE rugby family. It's exciting to be part of building the Womens rugby section and building on their previous success. My coaching objective is to develop players skills and for them to be active thinkers on the field."