Tottenham Hotspur Women have begin the process of rebuilding after a terrible 2024-25 WSL season by appointing Englishman Martin Ho as their newest head coach. The appointment was first announced a few days ago by The Athletic, and was made official by the club today on their website and social media.
A Liverpudian by birth, Ho comes to Tottenham Women from Norwegian Toppserien club SK Brann, where he led the team to the quarterfinals of the Women’s Champions League in 2023. This season Brann finished second in the league behind runaway champions Vålerenga, and qualified for the Champions League first qualifying round. Previously, Ho was an assistant coach at Manchester United Women from 2020-23, and also served as the head coach of Liverpool’s U21 women’s team.
In his first interview with the club, Ho said he expects Tottenham to win under his leadership, not just compete.
“I’m absolutely delighted [to join Tottenham]. After having a conversation with [Head of Women’s Football] Andy [Scoulding], Rebecca [Capelhorn], Vinai [Venkatesham] - and obviously Daniel [Levy] - it’s been really important for me to understand the Club. I think it’s very authentic in its own way.
“[It’s a] forward-thinking, positive club, one that wants to make a difference, but wants to do it in their own way. It’s been vital for me to understand the depths of the Club and where they want to go with the Women’s team. I’ve understood that clearly and I’m really excited.
“I don’t want to turn up here and just take part, I want to make sure we can take over, be competitive and, more importantly, we’re here to win as a club, not just turn up.
“I want to make that is very clear from the outset - from staff to players to the wider club. We want to be in those moments more often. I believe this team can do that and this Club can do that.
“I’ve heard a lot of good things, wonderful things about the staff and the Club, so I’m excited to get started.”
Ho replaces Robert Vilahamn as head coach, who guided the team to the finals of the FA Women’s Cup in 2024, but Spurs Women imploded this past season, finishing one spot above relegation and leading to his dismissal. We haven’t gotten a ton of insider information about what went wrong last season, but it was enough that Tottenham clearly thought a change was needed. Hopefully Ho will bring a fresh perspective to Spurs Women and will continue to guide Tottenham into a club that can compete with the teams near the top of the WSL table.
Days before Ho’s appointment, Spurs made their first player addition of the summer, announcing the arrival of 19-year-old Japanese international defender Tōko Koga from Feyenoord. Koga arrives on a deal through 2029. The BBC report that Spurs identified Koga as a potential transfer target during a preseason friendly against Feyenoord last summer. Koga was part of the Japan Olympic national team last summer, starting all four games and helping Japan advance to the knockout rounds of the competition, losing to eventual gold medalists USA.
There isn’t a ton of data on Koga, but at Feyenoord she was a regular in the starting XI, playing mostly as a central defender. She occasionally was shifted wide to fullback, and even played 90 minutes as a forward, scoring 2 goals in a 5-3 win over Excelsior in December, 2024. She’s taking a pretty substantial step up in level of competition but will hopefully be a player who can challenge for a starting place in Robert Ho’s back line next season.