From a young age, football coaches could tell Emily Husband was something special.
“When I was a kid I used to play a lot in the backyard with my brother and my dad, because I never wanted to miss out on anything. And then that sort of passion rolled into football,” she said.
“I used to go and watch my dad play and there was one day, I was 8 years old and I went on the field with my brother at half time and I was shooting at him in the goal.
“There was this woman sitting in the car next to my mum and she asked if I played for a team, and invited me for a kick around with the under 10s girls.”
“And that’s how my career started. I turned up to training in my full Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Leeds United kit.”
From there, Husband enjoyed an immensely successful career, playing and training seven days a week for Farlsely Celtic FC, her county in West Yorkshire, as well as Huddersfield Town AFC. A scholarship with the University of Texas took her to the USA, where she signed with Manchester City USA, playing First Grade and Reserves. She then started working in New Jersey at the Princeton Soccer Association, while also playing in the National Women’s Soccer League in the USA.
“And then it got to a point where coaching started taking up more of my time than playing did,” Husband said.
“I gave up playing and properly started my coaching career in 2012 and have not stopped since.”
Husband coached with the Chelsea Foundation for the 2018/19 season and has been at Sydney University for 5 years, coaching every age group at the club.
“The Director of Football John Curran gave me my shot at Sydney Uni and honestly I wouldn’t be where I am without him.”
Working alongside Development Officer Amy Shepherd, the pair is filling a void, all too often left open in the sporting world.
“I’ve never ever been coached by a female, for my entire playing career I only had male coaches,” she said.
“I think the closest I ever had was female PE teachers in school and I think that’s who I first started aspiring to when I was younger. Since coaching I have met some phenomenal female coaches across the world.”
Now she is part of the all-female coaching staff at Canberra United, hired on merit not gender.
“When Vicki was talking me through the role, she always said that she just wanted the best person for the job. I think it’s awesome that that has ended up being all females because ultimately it sends a message that there’s phenomenal female coaches out there, that are just waiting to be recognised.”
“The culture drew me here. They have a lot of rich history and good success, a really good fan base, who turn out to every game.
“I really liked what Vicki was going for with the team and what she was trying to bring. That really resonated with me so I felt that it was a really good fit both for me personally and for my values.”
