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Desiree Ellis is the coach of the South Africa women's national football team, Banyana Banyana.

She was awarded Confederation of African Football Women's Coach of the Year in 2018 after the team finished second place in the African Women Cup of Nations and qualifying for the Women's World Cup for the first time. During her club career she played as a midfielder for Spurs Ladies among other teams, but tragically, as I was to discover early in our conversation, now supports Manchester United ;)

We talk about her journey through the professional game, the many influences over her leadership style, her hopes and dreams for our national team, and some of the challenges they've had to overcome over the last year. Forwardzone · Platform45 · MikeStopforth.com · Connect with Mike on LinkedIn · Follow Mike on Twitter · 48h crisis communication consultancy