Kirk's journey to United

The 40-year-old began his coaching career with Livingston where he worked with their various youth sides.

Kirk moved to Hibernian in 2009, initially as an academy coach but was soon appointed as the ladies' head coach.

During his first season in charge of Hibs, Kirk led them to the Scottish Cup in 2010 and followed that with a League Cup triumph in 2011. Two years later, Hibs finished second and Willie won the Scottish Women's Football Manager of the Year award.
 

“I thought we were quite successful,” he said, reflecting on his time at Hibs when giving his first interview at United.
 
“I still think we could have been more successful, but we set a really good foundation for the club to go and build on.”

Kirk departed Hibs in 2014, to take up a role with the Scottish FA as their High Performance Football Manager.

Just over a year later he was on the move again, this time becoming Bristol City Women’s Head Coach.

United’s new assistant led the Vixens to promotion in 2016 and then secured back-to-back eighth-place finishes in the following two Women’s Super League campaigns.

“I have a lot of fond memories from there. We had relegation, we had promotion, we changed the name of the club, we went full-time – there was so much that happened in that three years, but I think all of it has been building blocks to get the move to such a big club like this,” he said.

“I know what it takes (to gain promotion). I know how tough a league it is and that was two years ago, it’s only got tougher.

“I’ve been through the pitfalls, been through that whole experience of getting results when we need it, of getting results when you’re not playing well, of capitalising on the runs of form when you are playing well, of the obvious down days when you drop points in the last minute. Hopefully that experience will help Casey and the team."