THE Melbourne Football Club has appointed Michael Stinear as its inaugural Women’s Senior Coach.



The 32-year-old is currently senior coach of the Oakleigh Chargers in the Under 18 TAC Cup competition, while also head coach of the Box Hill Senior Secondary College Football Academy.



Stinear is striving for his third consecutive premiership with the Oakleigh Chargers, after going back to back in 2014 and 2015.



Melbourne’s General Manager of Football Operations Josh Mahoney spoke highly of Stinear.



“We have been genuine about the women’s program being fully embedded into our football department, which was an important component in the selection of our senior coach,” said Mahoney.

“We were really happy with the level of candidates throughout the process and are delighted to appoint Michael Stinear as the inaugural Senior Coach of women’s football for 2017.

“Michael has a breadth of coaching experience at different levels of football, including his most recent stint as head Coach of Oakleigh Chargers, where he has won the last two premierships.

“Michael's focus on culture and development strongly aligns with our coaching philosophy at the Melbourne Football Club. Everyone at the Club is looking forward to supporting Michael in his role as we prepare to deliver the best women’s program for our players in the first season of the competition.

“At the conclusion of the National Women’s Competition, Michael will transfer across into a development role with the men’s team.”



Stinear completed a Bachelor of Business at the University of Queensland in 2007 and has acquired a Certificate III and IV in Fitness.



More recently he obtained his Level 3 AFL Coaching Accreditation and Executive Certificate in Player Development.



As an AFL player, Stinear was selected as a rookie for the Carlton Football Club in 2003 and 2004.



Melbourne went through a rigorous process in selecting the Women’s coach with a four person selection panel.



The panel was comprised of Mahoney along with Assistant Coach Jade Rawlings, Development and Strategy Coach Brendan McCartney and Women’s Football Operations Manager Debbie Lee.