Marieanne Spacey has stepped down as England Women assistant coach ahead of Euro 2017 to take up a new role at the Football Association.
The former forward, who scored 28 goals in 91 England appearances, leaves manager Mark Sampson's staff with immediate effect to become the FA's women's player and coach developer.
Spacey has been prominent within the England coaching set-up, notably as assistant to Sampson when the Lionesses finished third at the 2015 World Cup and just this month when she led the Under-23 side to the Nordic Tournament title.
She combined the Under-23 role with senior team duties, but now moves to a position where a key element will focus on identifying and bringing through generations of players from age-group sides into the full England set-up.
That programme will formally launch in September, the FA said, as the new Women's Super League season begins.
Press Association Sport understands Sampson is looking at finding a replacement for 51-year-old Spacey before England travel to Holland next month in pursuit of silverware. England begin their Euro 2017 campaign with a match against Scotland in Utrecht on July 19.
Sampson said of Spacey's move: "With the 2019 World Cup on the horizon there is no better person than Marieanne, with her playing and coaching knowledge and expertise, to identify and develop future England players for international competition.
"On behalf of all of the staff and players, I would like to thank Marieanne for her hard work, support and friendship over the past three and a half years. When we started working with the team in January 2014, this team was ranked 12th in the world. Now we are fourth and Marieanne has played a key role in that."
Spacey, who received her UEFA Pro Licence this month, said of her new challenge: "It's personally exciting to be leading such an innovative programme that will really drive forward the development of the elite women's game and hopefully help us meet our goal of a winning England team in 2023."
Source: PA
