After two years in both roles, Bell has decided to concentrate his efforts on the Women’s National Team.

Bell explained that he undertook the underage coaching position in order to help him get to know who was coming through the ranks – something he feels has been very useful.

“When I originally took over the Under-17s, it was just to be for one season. But it went really well and lasted longer than we expected. I really enjoyed the two years and it helped us a lot. If you look at players such as Emily Kraft, Tyler Toland, Emily Whelan, Jessica Ziu and Zara Foley, they’ve all played for the first team now and they were also involved in the Under-17s,” said Bell.

However, the Head Coach says he now feels it’s the time to let somebody else take over that position. 

He said: “Performing the two roles has been very beneficial, I got to know all the players and identify who we would bring in to the senior team at the time. But obviously you have to give your all to both teams and that is very time consuming. It is a good time to move on from it as I know the whole scene now, I know who is available to us. I want to prioritise what I came here to do and that is to qualify for a major tournament."