Casey Stoney plays down Wrexham manager links amid online abuse

Casey Stoney won 130 caps for England

Casey Stoney has played down links with the vacant Wrexham manager's job and what would be the first female appointment by a men's professional team in the UK.

The former Manchester United women's boss is a bookies favourite to succeed Dean Keates but says she is currently enjoying time with family.

Stoney has also hit out at sexist trolling she has received on Twitter.

She said those individuals should be "ashamed".

Wrexham executive director Humphrey Ker said the club were "disturbed by the abuse aimed at potential candidates would like to apologise to them on behalf of the club."

He added: "As the overwhelming majority of our fans will agree - this type of behaviour is not welcome at Wrexham AFC and we will continue to work with the rest of football to make online abuse a thing of the past.

"The Wrexham AFC board is committed to returning the Club to the EFL at the earliest opportunity and are currently running a process to find a manager who will be best suited to achieve this objective.

"We have a formal process in place and are hugely encouraged by the quality of the candidates who have put themselves forward already."

The former England defender left her role at Manchester United in May having finished fourth in the Women's Super League and narrowly missing out on a Champions League spot.

She said after three years it felt right to "take some time away".

• Stoney to leave WSL side at end of season

• What next for Stoney after Man Utd exit?

Wrexham's manager position became vacant after they failed to make the National League play-offs in the final game of the season.

The club, which has been taken over by Hollywood duo Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, decided not to renew the contract of Keates, who had been in charge since 2019.

The actors said they were "committed to returning the club to the EFL at the earliest opportunity" and feel a change of manager will provide the "best chance".

Stoney's link to the role, which would see her become the first female manager of a men's professional team in the UK, prompted a wave of online abuse.

She responded: "If you have a daughter, sister, wife or mother you should be ashamed".

Wales' record goal scorer Helen Ward said "it would be great to see a woman take a higher level men's team job" but that "it has to be the right fit".

"Casey has done very well at Manchester United but she is still relatively inexperienced as a manager, so if she doesn't feel it's right, she's not going to go for it," she told BBC Radio Wales.

The Watford striker said a female appointment will happen sooner rather than later.

"When you look at female managers, they're less experienced than a lot of men just because the [women's] game hasn't been professional for very long.

"The right time hasn't come yet, but I think it is coming. It's being talked about more and more with the jobs that come up now so it's only a matter of time before it does happen."

She added that a female manager might be "a bit of a novelty" to begin with, but believes the male players will be "very professional".

"They've got a manager there to do a job and I think they'd respect that and get on with it.

"I think players would be a lot more receptive to it than maybe fans."

Natasha Harding and Casey Stoney played together at Liverpool Ladies

Wales and Reading forward Natasha Harding condemned the online abuse aimed at her former team mate Stoney.

"It's just so unfortunate, I don't know why people do it," she told BBC Radio Cymru.

"For some reason anyone who plays football, men or women, get abuse on social media.

"It's so disappointing to see. I know her personally and I'm sure she'll be taking these messages to heart and I'm sure she'll be upset reading them."

Harding added: "She's a really, really good coach and a good person too.

"If I was in charge of Wrexham I would give her the job to take the club to the next level."