Manisha Tailor is leaving QPR after more than eight years to become International Development Coach at Tottenham.
Tailor joined QPR in 2016 as a part-time coach with the Under-9s. She went on to become Lead Foundation Phase Coach, Assistant Head of Coaching and, since January this year, the Head of Coaching Development.
“I have had a memorable journey and will always be grateful for the wonderful opportunities that have been presented to me to aid my personal and professional development,” Tailor said.
“Former Head of Coaching and Technical Director Chris Ramsey took me under his wing as a volunteer in 2016. The allyship and transformational leadership, coupled with the endeavour to work hard and self improve, has aided me to develop greater flexibility and resilience, resulting in the trajectory that I have had in my career at QPR.
“I want to put on record my gratitude to all the staff, players and parents for their support and wish the club all the very best for the future.”
Academy Director Alex Carroll added: “We are extremely grateful to Manisha for the significant contribution that she has made during her time at the Academy.
“Manisha has undoubtedly supported the individual development of players and coaches, and she should reflect with immense pride on the work that she has delivered.
“The fact that Manisha is embarking on a new challenge with a Premier League club, alongside coaching on the international stage with England Women’s U15s, is testament to her personal resilience and determination to break barriers.
“Everyone at the Academy wishes Manisha the very best of luck for her exciting next steps.”
INSPIRATIONAL STORY
Until 2011, Tailor was Deputy Head at Cowley St Laurence Primary School in Uxbridge. She left her career in education to help care for her twin brother Mayur, who had developed a severe mental illness that left him unable to speak.
Former England international Rachel Yankey encouraged her to pursue a passion for football coaching by taking her badges and volunteering in the grassroots game. A key relationship has been with former QPR Technical Director Chris Ramsey.
The duo met at a diversity and equality event at St George’s Park in 2014 and reconnected in February 2016, by which time Tailor had gained her Uefa B Licence and was Manager of Middlesex Girls’ Centre of Excellence.
She asked Ramsey how to get involved in the professional game and he said “get time on the grass to learn your trade” and invited her in to QPR’s Academy.
In a 2021 interview with TGG, Tailor remembered: “I used to get in at 10am, watch all the different age groups, watch the gym sessions, and then go in for the schoolboys in the evenings. That was three times a week for four months, so about 180 hours in total.”
In 2016, she was given a part-time job with the U9s, while earning money outside football by supply teaching and tutoring. She had also set up her own business, Swaggarlicious, which uses “the power of football and education to engage with diverse community groups and organisations.”
In 2017, Tailor was awarded an MBE for ‘Services to Football and Diversity in Sport.’ Another big break came in the Autumn of 2018, when she was appointed as QPR’s Lead Foundation Phase Coach, as well as being put forward for the Premier League’s Elite Coach Apprenticeship Scheme (ECAS) by Ramsey and Carroll.
Tailor then started her A Licence in June 2020 and began as Assistant Head of Coaching in June 2021, before taking on the new role of Head of Coaching Development in January this year.
