‘The time was right’ – Oxtoby swaps Northern Ireland for Newcastle

Tanya Oxtoby “didn’t take lightly” choosing to leave international football and take over a club in England’s second tier, but it is obvious why she did it.

After taking over Northern Ireland in 2023, the 43-year-old left to join Newcastle United in the WSL 2 this week.

The Australian, who made 14 appearances for Doncaster Rovers Belles as a player while coaching in the UK and managing Bristol City between 2018 and 2021, has spent the best part of his ten years coaching in the UK.

She aspires to succeed in leading Newcastle into the WSL by returning to daily coaching and having access to lavish resources.

She helped a young Northern Ireland team through a transitional period, but she ultimately felt the right course of action.

Oxtoby told BBC Sport, “I really miss getting back on the grass every day.

“I hope to have a really positive impact,” she said. Oxtoby and her family didn’t take their decision lightly. We had to weigh it in.

The distance from one another was getting longer as the international breaks began and my little boy was getting older.

Oxtoby joined NI after completing their first major tournament at Euro 2022 and transitioning into a full-time setup on a four-year contract with the organization.

Because of her varied experience, including those at Scotland, Chelsea, and Australia’s under-20s, it was a left-field appointment.

The squad was in need of a lot of work; there were few resources, little staff, and little structure; the squad was getting old. As a result, she encountered difficulties.

Oxtoby was critical of the circumstances that NI encountered while traveling, and as part of the transitional period, she had to lower the squad’s average age from 26.7% to 24.8%.

By the end of her tenure, only nine members of the squad were domestic players and played in England or Scotland in October.

Oxtoby admitted that she “probably didn’t realize what I was entering when I was actually there.”

“I’m very proud of what I did there, including transitioning the squad and transitioning the younger players.” Additionally, it focused on professionalization and processes.

A little of how we operated and what we did was a real challenge. What’s going to happen next, too, needed to be looked at.

“It almost resembled what one environment was unable to give,” according to the author. Simply put, it seemed appropriate to join Newcastle.

Oxtoby recalls fond memories of her time spent in Northern Ireland, but she acknowledged that not everything was perfect.

To help them regain their status as League A of the Nations League and resume their important success, changes were required.

“I came from a club environment where I was around people every day, before transitioning to an international environment where I was somewhat isolated,” Oxtoby said.

“It was our ability as a staffing structure to have in place what we needed, and we were working toward that, but it was probably not going quickly enough.

It’s one of those things, they say. When I go to Northern Ireland, I thought there probably wasn’t that many staff members [at Newcastle] who could bring processes to life.

She is aware of the club’s investment in resources and the transfer window as a means of promotion at Newcastle.

“I came in with my eyes open, fully aware of what we were trying to achieve.” When asked if she was prepared for the pressure, Oxtoby responded, “I embraced it and wanted it.”

I desired to be in a place with real ambition and a desire to succeed. That’s exactly what I mean when I say alignment.

Before joining, Oxtoby consulted with Newcastle’s club executives and concluded she had the skills necessary to succeed.

They have already been talking about the transfer window for January, and they see it as a “two or three-year plan” in their eyes.

According to Oxtoby, what the club’s priorities were from the new coach’s: “It was the ability to lead a multidisciplinary team, have really clear processes at a WSL level, be able to implement those quickly and clearly, and obviously develop players with a history of winning.”

She hopes that her experience with Northern Ireland will help her, and she has learned a lot about being “adaptable.”

You are aware of what the best practice is and how it should look, but sometimes you are unable to do it, whether it is due to time, resources, or perhaps personnel, Oxtoby said.

The ability to modify that allows you to continue to get the same result but in a different way. One of the most important things was probably that.