New Delhi, 26 August (H.S.): The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Wednesday appointed Anthony Andrews as the assistant coach of the Indian U-17 Women’s National Football Team. Joachim Alexandersson will continue as the team’s head coach.

Andrews, who is the head coach of East Bengal FC, will take on dual responsibilities with both the club and the national team. He has guided East Bengal to consecutive Indian Women’s League (IWL) titles and holds the record for the most IWL championships, with four titles to his name. He won the 2021-22 and 2022-23 editions with Gokulam Kerala FC before securing back-to-back titles with East Bengal in 2024-25 and 2025-26.

Under Andrews’ guidance, East Bengal also recently secured a victory in the preliminary stage of the AFC Women’s Champions League 2026-27. The achievement made East Bengal the first Indian women’s club to reach the group stage of the AFC Women’s Champions League in two consecutive seasons.

Andrews has now joined the Indian U-17 women’s team in Tashkent. India will play two international friendly matches against Uzbekistan on August 27 and 30. The matches form part of the team’s preparations for the AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup China 2027 qualifiers, which will be held in Malaysia from October 5 to 11. India have been drawn in Group E alongside Malaysia, Syria and Iraq.

Andrews said it was a great honour for him to become part of the Indian U-17 women’s national team. Expressing gratitude to the AIFF for its confidence in him, he said he was excited to contribute to the development of young Indian footballers.

He also expressed hope of sharing with the national team his experience in women’s football, along with the knowledge he has gained in talent identification and player development.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar