CHARLOTTE Stuart has stepped down as Bradford City Women’s First Team manager despite only taking the job in August last year.

The former Bantams captain was previously assistant to former manager Chris Hames - who departed for Hull City last summer – and Stuart jumped at the chance to take on the leading role at City Women when the vacancy became available in 2022. The City star would continue to play for her side in a player-manager role.

However, a tough campaign for City has seen them remain firmly in the relegation zone and Stuart has since the made the decision to turn her focus to playing rather than coaching; for the time being.

Reflecting on her decision to step down as Bradford’s First Team manager, Stuart said to the T&A: “In truth, I stepped down as manager a few months ago but me and the club have wanted to keep it under wraps.

“It was a personal choice of mine to take the step down back in October because I always had my doubts about whether being a player-manager would work anyway. It was hard to juggle both roles and that’s why I made the decision. So, Gareth Davis (assistant manager) has been in charge.

“I’ve playing for the team since November but I’m doing a few other bits on the side based around coaching. We’ll see what happens in the future.”

Davis, who was assistant to Stuart during her time as manager, had a lot of praise for the ever-present Bantams star.

He said: “Charlotte has been a fantastic servant to the club. The input that she still has on the training sessions is fantastic; she’s always there and ready to put the work in. I think it was important for her to put her focus into playing because I think if you speak to any player-manager, they’ll tell you that it is a really hard task to try and juggle both components."

Davis added: “Charlotte’s a massively important senior figure around the dressing room and we can only thank her for the contributions that she’s put in and is still putting in. To say she’s stepped down, she always puts her input into the team and looks to lead in the right ways, so for that we are very grateful.

“I still think she’s got all the capabilities to make a success out of a coaching career, definitely. When I first arrived at Bradford you could see her playing ability, but you could always see that she had the ability to coach at a high level when she was running a training session.”

This Sunday offers Bradford City a huge opportunity to claw the deficit back in their bid to avoid relegation as they travel to Chorley – the side who occupy the position above the drop zone and the Bantams.

The reverse fixture was played two weeks ago and City came out 2-1 winners that day.

Looking ahead to this weekend’s contest, Davis said: “It’s a huge game, we are well aware of that. There’s six points separating the two sides and we have a game in hand, so we know what a victory could do for us this weekend.

“We’ve got a tally of points that we are aiming for, and we only have seven games left to achieve that. Starting this weekend, it would be the perfect opportunity for us to get closer to the target. I was very impressed with the girls’ performance two weeks ago, so we need to try and replicate that to the best of our ability.”