Morgan's licence to inspire female Welsh coaches

Why have one Uefa A licence when you can have two? Del Morgan certainly thought so.

The 30-year-old has become the first – and so far only – woman in Wales to hold both the Uefa Goalkeeping A Licence and a Uefa A Licence.

For Morgan - previously Wrexham Women's goalkeeper, now a goalkeeper coach at Liverpool Women and the club's goalkeeper development and pathway lead - securing the two qualifications has been a long-term commitment.

"It's been a goal of mine since I started coaching over 10 years ago to achieve both A licences," said Morgan.

"Predominantly I am a goalkeeper coach so I've focused on the goalkeeper coaching pathway, but through the Uefa licences you have to have the outfield and the goalkeeper one to progress up to the next goalkeeper ladder."

It was a progression Morgan, who also played for Everton, was determined to achieve.

"I always want something to give myself that challenge to keep me going, to give that little bit in between my teeth.

"It really put me out of my comfort zone like nothing's ever done before, so I'm really, really glad that I decided to do it."

Morgan, from Prestatyn, was part of the Wrexham side which won promotion to the Adran Premier in 2023.

With the club established in Welsh women's top-flight, Morgan opted to leave at the end of the 2024-25 season to concentrate on her coaching career.

Pursuing her coaching ambitions has come at a cost.

"The issue with qualifications is that it costs money, like any qualification does in any sort of job," Morgan added.

"Along the way I might have had clubs supporting that but the higher up you go the pathway, the more money it costs.

"It's probably why a lot of people stop at certain levels because they just can't find that next level of funding to go through.

"The FAW (Football Association of Wales) have been very supportive, especially this year with the outfield day licence, there's a lot of help with that.

"But they've also been really supportive in giving me opportunities to coach within their youth pathway as well, so it's sort of like payback for me as well."

Morgan, who has also worked with the academies of Cefn Druids and Connah's Quay Nomads, is grateful for the support she has had from the FAW.

She acknowledges Nicola Anderson, who was previously the FAW's Female Coach Education Lead, as having the "biggest impact" on her coaching journey.

Now Morgan hopes she can inspire other women on their own coaching paths.

"I'm hoping that they sort of see my journey to help motivate them," she said.

"Because we need more female coaches and in particular we need more female goalkeeper coaches, especially in Wales.

"It's slowly starting to change but there needs to be a lot more opportunities for these young women, these girls, to be able to have an environment to coach in and have an environment where they feel safe to make mistakes, but also just to learn and develop on the go."

Morgan is a Wrexham fan who has seen first-hand the men's team's rise from the National League to the Championship under the ownership of Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac.

Investment from the owners since their arrival in 2021 has seen the club transformed, including the growth of the women's section, which she herself was part of.

"When Rob and Ryan came in the whole Wrexham story just exploded," Morgan added.

"Me, my dad and my brother, we talk about it quite often, but we were coming to watch Wrexham games at the Racecourse when they were in the Conference.

"We were three people out of 1,500 fans watching them play Dover, and now it's near impossible to try and get a ticket to watch a home game."

The progress the club has made over the last five years has, she said, been "absolutely fantastic".

"To see it as a fan early on and then just have a small part in it in my last four years of playing, it's just really exciting," said Morgan.

"You just can't believe how far the club's gone and how far it can still go and how high is the ceiling for Wrexham.

"It's really exciting because we don't know how high that ceiling is."

It is a statement that could also apply to Morgan herself, now that she has the two A licences to her name.

But what role does she for herself in the game in the future?

"I don't think I want to become a head coach; I'm very still much I'm a goalkeeper orientated through and through," she said.

"I would love one day to be a WSL (Women's Super League) first-team goalkeeper coach.

"Am I ready for that right this second? No, and I'm very open to that."

Morgan also said she knows exactly the areas where she needs to develop to achieve that - and other goals.

"I feel that I'm in a really great place to make those small steps to potentially get the opportunity to do that," she added.

"I get to support the first team at Liverpool quite often, so I think that's probably the ultimate goal.

"And I think maybe the little girl in me telling me I would absolutely love to coach the Wales women first team one day."