Sydney FC’s new Women’s Head Coach James Slaveski believes the sport should move away from separating men’s and women’s football, insisting that ‘Football is football’.
The 38-year-old was previously announced as the team’s caretaker in early February but penned a permanent two-year deal this week. He’s now become only the fourth Head Coach in the side’s history.
Having worked in both the men’s and women’s game throughout his career, including previous roles with the Matildas and several A-League clubs, Slaveski says there shouldn’t be a distinction between the two as football continues to evolve.
“I think we need to start to move away from separating the two,” he said.
“Football is football. Women’s, men’s, boys, girls, whatever it may be.
“I’ve coached women and coached girls for a long time. I enjoy both aspects.
“There’s a big kind of future in the game, in terms of the potential for where it can go.”
Ahead of the biggest test of his career, the coach, who started his footballing journey as a Technical Analyst for Melbourne City, touched on where he goes for advice and who he leans on.
“Joe Montemurro is someone that I’ve known for a while now, I worked with him at Melbourne City in 2016 and kept a really close relationship with him since then. [I] Speak with him regularly.
“He’s a real pillar for me, a real mentor for me in many different aspects, not just football.
“Throughout my journey, I’ve worked with a lot of good clubs and with a lot of really good coaches that have gone on to do things overseas, in different countries.
“You take everything from every environment and everyone you work with.
“So from that end, I lean on all of those experiences, and it has helped me in the first seven weeks here, [and] with a few different teams as well.”
Slaveski’s first season at the helm of the Sky Blues will commence with the 2026/27 Ninja A-League season and the coach is confident in his ability to build on the side’s foundations and drive them forward.
“Since I started about 2014/15, I’ve worked with a lot of good coaches and a lot of good environments at many clubs and [the] national team,” Slaveski said.
“I’ve had a lot of experience.
“At no stage have I thought that I couldn’t handle whatever came my way.
“This is a big club. In my opinion, the biggest club in the country, an extremely successful club as well.
“I’m ready to take on the challenge.”
Slaveski now looks to the commencement of the 2026/27 Ninja A-League season for his first full campaign in charge, with the coach eager to build on the foundations laid during his interim spell and draw on years of experience to lead the Sky Blues into the ‘Slaveski Era’.
