Former Burnley Women manager Lou Roberts has joined the Posh coaching staff ahead of the new FA Women's National League North campaign.
The Peterborough United Women have bolstered their coaching staff with the arrival of Lou Roberts, who will work alongside manager Jake Poole, Michael Anderson and Emily Sharpe for the club's first experience of Tier 3 football.
Roberts joined Burnley as Assistant Manager in November 2023 and went on to oversee the team in Caretaker and Interim capacities. During her time in charge, she was named Manager of the Month; guided the side to a League Cup semi-final; and leaves with the team unbeaten in the league this season.
Roberts had an excellent playing career, spending 13 years at Stoke City before transitioning into coaching with the Potters, working as a coach for the reserve team before progressing into the first team coaching set-up.
Poole is delighted to be able to attract an experienced coach with plenty of Tier 2 experience to the club and is looking forward to working with someone he knows well.
"I know Lou well and have had a good friendship with her for a number of years. We worked together in my other role and always felt we would work together again. Lou has achieved a lot of things in the last few years with Stoke City and more recently Burnley and I am really excited that she is going to bring that experience and quality with her as we embark on new challenges at a new level.
"She has played at Tier 3 for a long time prior to her coaching career and she brings passion and drive and an unbelievable work ethic and real quality of work. We are really pleased because she will bring a different dynamic to the group, we know that we need to move forward on the pitch, but also off it too and she will help do that for us.
"I think it is a major credit to the club that we have become an attractive proposition, not just on the pitch, but off it too, people want to come and work for us. It is just as important to have the right backroom staff. We have got a real good blend now.
"Emily Sharpe comes with a wealth of playing experience, she is a really good leader and has shown that both and off the pitch in the last two years, Michael Anderson has a lot of game knowledge and is so good on the training pitch and the players respond really well to that.
"Lou will bring a different dynamic on and off the training pitch. We wanted to put together a competitive squad to compete in Tier 3, but we also wanted to assemble the best coaching staff and I am confident we have that now," Poole said.
The club can also confirm Physiotherapist Sam Palmer will continue in his role alongside new Strength and Conditioning Coach Bayleigh Roe. Sophie Powell will be the club's Goalkeeping Coach with Nathan Reed continuing in his role as Player Care Lead.
Roberts is excited for the new challenge and is looking forward to working with Jake and the rest of the coaching staff with pre-season training set to start just around the corner.
"I am really looking forward to it, there is a real good ambition at the football club, there are really good people here and a good platform for us to push on and be progressive.
"I know Jake well, we have worked together previously and the fixture between Burnley and Posh in the Adobe Women's FA Cup last season provided mixed emotions, it was great to be competing against each other but I think I will enjoy being in the same technical area with him this season.
"Tier 3 is competitive, there are a lot of different playing styles at this level, our job is to prepare the group of girls to be able to compete at the level and we are looking forward to that challenge." Roberts said.
You can watch the full interview with Lou on the Women's social media platforms.