Lluis Cortes named Women’s coach of the year for the 2020/21 season following his success with Barcelona, when he won three trophies. Emma Hayes (Chelsea) finished second, Peter Gerhardsson (Sweden) came in third.
The 35-year-old Spanish coach succeeds Jean-Luc Vasseur of Lyon, who won the award in the last season. Cortez took over in 2019, when Fran Sanchez was sacked, and he was given a chance to finish the season. He led the team to their first Women’s Champions League final, where they were defeated by Lyon. In the last season, Blaugrana became a Spanish champion with 10 games to go and showed outstanding attacking performance with a new record for goals scored in a season with 119 goals. At the end of the season, Cortes resigned as a Barcelona coach.
🏆 UEFA 2020/21 Women’s Coach of the Year: 𝗟𝗟𝗨𝗜́𝗦 𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗘́𝗦 ✨
Congratulations, @Llcortes14 👏#UEFAawards pic.twitter.com/RsMrKlsIbe
— UEFA Women’s Champions League (@UWCL) August 26, 2021
“I’d like to thank UEFA and all the members of the jury who thought that I deserved this award. It is an honour and a pleasure. I’ve been working in women’s football for many years, and I am very happy to receive this recognition. Of course, my thanks also go to FC Barcelona, from the board to the club’s staff, players, and personnel, because none of this would’ve been possible without them. Finally, I’d like to wish the rest of the teams all the best for next season, which I am sure will be a very, very good one,” said Cortes for uefa.com.