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Regarded as one of the most knowledgeable managers in the women’s game, Kirk boasts 14 years experience in women football which includes helping Hibernian win the Scottish Cup and Everton reach the final of the FA Cup.
Leicester City appointed Kirk as the club’s first-ever director of football for both the first team and the academy in July 2022 and he agreed to become the manager after Lydia Bedford was sacked later that year.
The 45-year-old took over with Leicester bottom of the table with zero points after six games but he led them to a remarkable great escape.
However, Kirk’s trouble started at the start of the new season when one of his players approached him for a relationship.
He said he ‘shut down’ the approach and several others after it as he knew it was against the ethics of his job but he later agreed to the affair when the unnamed player was out injured.
The couple started seeing each other after Christmas and during the February international break they secretly travelled to Milan.
The trip, however, proved pivotal as an official at another Women’s Super League club discovered the affair and reported Kirk to Leicester. He was sacked in March.
“There’s a number of things I need to get off my chest,’ Kirk told Mail Sport. “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.’
“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.
Things went downhill after Leicester found out about Kirk’s affair.
“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.'”
Kirk added, “It’s been frustrating. Wrongly, I think a lot of that frustration has turned into hate. I’ve hated myself. I hated the club. I’ve had moments where I have resented the relationship even though the relationship is still going on.
“This wasn’t a manager exerting their power who said ‘jump into bed with me and I’ll play you in the starting XI.’
“I’ve just carried this hate, which is wrong, but it’s come from this frustration of not being able to speak about it.
“I’m not a criminal, I’ve not committed a crime. I’ve jeopardised an environment and that is a pretty big thing. The club made mistakes in the past, I came in, turned around a points gap that had never been turned around before, retained WSL status. Now I’ve made a mistake and they don’t want anything to do with me. I felt let down by the club in terms of that.”
Regarded as one of the most knowledgeable managers in the women’s game, Kirk boasts 14 years experience in women football which includes helping Hibernian win the Scottish Cup and Everton reach the final of the FA Cup.
Leicester City appointed Kirk as the club’s first-ever director of football for both the first team and the academy in July 2022 and he agreed to become the manager after Lydia Bedford was sacked later that year.
The 45-year-old took over with Leicester bottom of the table with zero points after six games but he led them to a remarkable great escape.
However, Kirk’s trouble started at the start of the new season when one of his players approached him for a relationship.
He said he ‘shut down’ the approach and several others after it as he knew it was against the ethics of his job but he later agreed to the affair when the unnamed player was out injured.
The couple started seeing each other after Christmas and during the February international break they secretly travelled to Milan.
The trip, however, proved pivotal as an official at another Women’s Super League club discovered the affair and reported Kirk to Leicester. He was sacked in March.
“There’s a number of things I need to get off my chest,’ Kirk told Mail Sport. “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.’
“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.
Things went downhill after Leicester found out about Kirk’s affair.
“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.'”
Kirk added, “It’s been frustrating. Wrongly, I think a lot of that frustration has turned into hate. I’ve hated myself. I hated the club. I’ve had moments where I have resented the relationship even though the relationship is still going on.
“This wasn’t a manager exerting their power who said ‘jump into bed with me and I’ll play you in the starting XI.’
“I’ve just carried this hate, which is wrong, but it’s come from this frustration of not being able to speak about it.
“I’m not a criminal, I’ve not committed a crime. I’ve jeopardised an environment and that is a pretty big thing. The club made mistakes in the past, I came in, turned around a points gap that had never been turned around before, retained WSL status. Now I’ve made a mistake and they don’t want anything to do with me. I felt let down by the club in terms of that.”
Source:
Mail Sport
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