English manager Laura Kaminski has enjoyed an emphatic debut campaign in Norway, claiming a league and cup double with SK Brann just 10 months after being appointed in January. The 38-year-old coach, who famously steered Crystal Palace to the Women's Super League 2 title in 2024, wrapped up the Toppserien championship prior to the season's final match. Following widespread congratulations from supporters in Bergen, her squad is now preparing to fight for a place in the Europa Cup quarter-finals next Wednesday.
Kaminski described her first year overseas as an exhausting yet rewarding adventure, having relocated away from her family in London to take charge of the Norwegian outfit. Over the course of 11 months, she completed 65 flights, navigating fixtures ranging from idyllic days in Bergen to trips into the Arctic Circle featuring horizontal snow and freezing conditions. Sacked by Palace in February 2025 during a challenging WSL season against wealthier clubs, Kaminski found a different pressure at Brann, where heavy investment brought an outright expectation to win silverware alongside the challenge of adapting to Norway's fearless, high-pressing attacking football.
Having previously accumulated more than 15 years of experience as an assistant manager across the WSL and WSL 2, coupled with a coaching role for England's under-19s, Kaminski believes her time in Scandinavia has broadened her managerial toolkit. With only two professional women's tiers active in England, she has encouraged other female coaches to explore opportunities abroad. Her comments follow an October study by UK Coaching reporting a six percent decline in female coaches, with only three English female managers currently in the WSL—Jo Potter at Crystal Palace, Amy Merricks at Birmingham City, and Karen Hills at Charlton Athletic—all of whom arrived via promotion this summer.
Looking ahead, while Kaminski is firmly committed to her ongoing chapter at Brann, she also highlighted that managing in English men's football should remain an achievable goal for women. Noting that she went overseas to obtain the high-level platform she had earned, she confirmed she would be receptive to men's football roles in the future, though she remains uncertain whether the footballing establishment is currently prepared to give qualified female candidates genuine consideration.