The ex-Preston defender managing two national teams

Although international managers typically have fewer games to prove themselves than club coaches, Scott Wiseman shouldn’t be concerned about a lack of matches.

The 39-year-old has been in charge of the women’s team in Gibraltar since 2023 and recently oversaw their first ever competitive international tournament appearances in 2024-25.

After his long-standing predecessor Julio Cesar Ribas resigned for personal reasons, former Gibraltar defender Julio Cesar Ribas was appointed interim manager of the men’s side earlier this month.

Before leaving his career at Gibraltar club Lincoln Red Imps, Wiseman had to balance the demands of the men’s World Cup qualifying matches and the next group of Nations League matches for the women’s team. He has previously played for Rochdale, Barnsley, Preston North End, Salford City, Preston North End, Preston North End, Salford City, and Salford City.

The men play Montenegro and the Czech Republic on March 22 and 25 in their opening matches, while the women play Slovakia and the Faroe Islands on April 4 and 8 in their opening matches.

The Hull-born coach, however, is relishing the challenge. He is not overawed.

The former right-back, whose 38 appearances for Gibraltar included their first game for Uefa, declared, “It’s fantastic.”

It’s a privilege to work on one job, and not to have the opportunity to work two.

It’s comparable to a coach working day in and day out in England. Sometimes Saturday and Tuesday games are played, and the preparation for the coaches and staff there is challenging.

There are no differences between these two distinct national teams with different schedules, according to me.

While still playing for Lincoln Red Imps, Wiseman began his coaching career with Gibraltar’s elite development teams. He later moved on to lead the Under-16, Under-17, and Under-19 teams.

In his new role with the men’s senior team, Wiseman says he has a “good working relationship” with the majority of the women’s senior coaching staff.

The women’s impressive displays in their opening Nations League games against Moldova and the Faroe Islands last month have heightened preparations.

Both games ended with a 1-0 defeat, but Wiseman saw plenty of positives.

He continued, “We far exceeded our expectations.”

“Yes, we lost both games, but the women have made incredible strides.”

We conceded that we have less work left to do in our next [games] to some extent because of that. Much of that preparation has been successfully boxed off.

The men’s reward for placing second in League D of the Nations League is a two-legged play-off with Latvia in March of next year, the winner of which will advance to League C.

Wiseman, who had the opportunity to play for Gibraltar through his mother, believes that the upcoming World Cup qualifying campaign should serve as a springboard and “bullet-back” for ties with Latvia.

He said, “The expectation for the next 12 months must be one that will lead to the Nations League play-offs.”

One of the youngest squads I’ve ever been a part of, “we’ve chosen a very young squad.”

We’ve never qualified for the Euro or World Cup, so we could use this campaign as a springboard for the younger boys who will come through and gain the necessary international experience.

Wiseman isn’t certain whether he’ll still be in charge of that play-off, though.

When asked about his future, he responded, “I’m not sure.

We haven’t yet discussed this, they say. We had to be very reactive because [Ribas’ resignation] came very close to this international window.

It “fits” the association perfectly. We haven’t discussed playing these games.