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Willie Kirk takes a deep breath before explaining how he became involved in a relationship with one of his players while he was manager of Leicester City.
It has been six weeks since Kirk was sacked by the club after the relationship, which he is still in, was discovered. His dismissal triggered widespread debate - is it ever ok for a manager and a player to cross that line?
Kirk is not the first coach in the women’s game to have done so. Mail Sport knows of several current and former managers who have had relationships with their players. Most are not reportable for legal reasons.
Kirk has stayed silent since his sacking in March, but now he is ready to talk.
Speaking exclusively to Mail Sport from his house in Nottinghamshire, Kirk says he wants to take accountability for his actions. But he also wants to set the record straight.
Willie Kirk was sacked from his role at Leicester after it was revealed he was in a relationship with a current player
The former WSL manager is keen to take accountability - as well as to set the record straight
Debate swirled over Kirk's dismissal in March over whether a player and coach should ever cross the line
‘There’s a number of things I need to get off my chest,’ Kirk says. ‘First of all, me and my wife have been separated for over a year.
‘I think people just now are going “he’s a bad coach, he’s a bad husband, he’s a bad human.”’
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Kirk has been in management and women’s football for the last 14 years. His CV includes Scottish Cup wins with Hibernian, an FA Cup final with Everton and promotion with Bristol City.
He first joined Leicester as their director of football in July 2022 but when the club sacked Lydia Bedford later that year, he agreed to take over. Leicester were bottom of the table with zero points after six games, but Kirk led them to a remarkable great escape.
It was in the months following this and after the new season had started that Kirk unexpectedly received an approach.
‘One of the players contacted me away from work to express their feelings for me,’ Kirk says. ‘I said “that is ridiculous” and just shut it down. That was that.’
Kirk says he rejected repeated advances over the coming months. I kept shutting it down and said “it’s never going to happen, there’s a code of conduct.”’
Things changed when the player picked up an injury at the end of last year. ‘I think this is what justified it to us,’ Kirk says.
Kirk took over his role after former head coach Lydia Bedford moved away from the Foxes
The former head coach said that he repeatedly rejected the advances of the player before she picked up an injury
‘She picked up an injury at the tail end of the calendar year and was doing her rehab away from the training ground.
‘Just before Christmas, I agreed to meet on a personal level. She was injured so it wasn’t going to stop me doing my job because she couldn’t be selected.
‘Obviously I was trying to justify it to myself, which never made it right. After Christmas we started seeing each other once a week, so she’d come here, or the week after I’d go to hers.’
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Kirk knew the relationship was unethical. ‘We would arrive in the dark, we would leave in the dark, clearly because we knew it was wrong.
In the February international break, Kirk and his partner took a risk that proved pivotal. ‘I said I was going to go away for a few days to Milan. And she said “why do we not go away together?” I told her that was a step too far, but eventually we agreed to a few days away.
‘We convinced each other that we could do it. We flew out on different days and spent two nights in Italy then we got separate flights back.
‘When we came back, we said “I think this has gone too far, we need to knock this on the head until the end of the season and either I’ll leave the club or you’ll leave the club.”
‘We had agreed we were taking too much of a risk.’
What Kirk did not realise is that his relationship had been discovered by an official at another Women’s Super League club, who reported him to Leicester.
‘I got pulled into a meeting saying there had been a complaint made about me and the club lawyer would be in touch and the external lawyers would arrange an investigation.
‘Ten days came and went.
‘We were building up to the FA Cup game against Liverpool. Fifteen minutes before the last training session on the Friday, I got pulled into the office by the women’s director and the internal lawyer was there and I just knew what it was.
‘They said we need you to be honest with us “are you in a relationship with a player?” “We know all about it, we know you’ve been to Italy, we know it started just before Christmas.”’
Preparations were underway for Leicester's FA Cup clash with Liverpool (pictured) when Kirk was first confronted about the relationship
First team assistant manager Jennifer Foster (pictured) has since taken over as interim coach
Kirk then admitted the relationship and, after a three-week investigation, was sacked for gross misconduct. Kirk unsuccessfully appealed the decision. The player remains at the club.
‘From admitting it, I was treated and felt like a criminal,’ Kirk says.
‘I feel the club could have dealt with it better. I felt there was a lack of consistency with previous investigations.
‘It’s on me, it’s my fault, I should never have gone through with anything. There is a code
