Making Orlando proud: English coaching duo's unlikely route to NWSL glory

The Guardian

7 days ago

To followers of women's football in the United States, they are the English coaching duo who have delivered unprecedented success to a previously trophyless club; to English football fans with particularly sharp memories, they are the former Middlesbrough and Derby youngsters who left to play in the MLS. To each other, Seb Hines and Giles Barnes are just old mates, stretching back to their days sharing a room together on England youth international camps.
'It brings an unwavering trust. We can challenge each other and there's no ill intent behind it,' is how Barnes sums up the benefits of a head coach and his assistant being longtime friends. Yet the unlikely chain of events that led to their reunion in Florida is almost as improbable as Orlando Pride leaping from 10th place to the title in two years.
Hines may never have moved to the United States had it not been for a call to Barnes. When Hines was contemplating leaving Middlesbrough in 2015, it was Barnes – playing for Houston Dynamo at the time – who helped make up his mind.
'I asked Giles: 'What's the lifestyle like? Is it right for my family? And what's the standard like?' And he sold it to me. He said: 'This is a growing league. You get to play against some of the best players in the world.' Maybe if I hadn't had that conversation, I might be stacking shelves in England or something,' recalls Hines, who knew he had made the right choice on making his Orlando City debut in front of 62,510 alongside Kaká.
Barnes's own life-changing move to the MLS had come three years earlier, after a string of serious injuries while at Doncaster after spells at West Brom and his initial breakthrough at Derby.
'As a young kid, I had a lot going for me. Then I got injured pretty severely to the point where I was told to retire,' Barnes says. 'After I came back from knee surgery, I snapped my Achilles twice. When I was playing for Doncaster, I wasn't enjoying football and it was purely because I didn't feel like the same player. I was still young and there were still all these expectations and I never really recovered properly from my injury, and that sat with me in a dark place for a long time. I didn't feel football in my body any more. I was a bit heartbroken. I came to the end of that season and I told my dad I was done with football.
'I sat on the couch for I don't know how long and then I got a random phone call from an agent, saying: 'Hey, how do you feel about playing for LA Galaxy?' and I thought: 'OK you've got my attention'. I ended up going to Houston and just enjoying my life, in a new city where no one's asking: 'What happened to Giles Barnes, the wonder kid?' and I could just enjoy football. I started to feel a little better in myself as a human when I started to get the love back for football. I came to MLS in a dark time of my life and in my career and it saved me.'
Barnes would go on to play for Jamaica and have spells in Canada, Mexico and India before getting a break in coaching after the former USA manager Bob Bradley invited him to join Toronto FC during pre-season while, over in Florida, his old roommate's own coaching career was set for an unexpected twist.
Hines had been working on the backroom staff at Orlando Pride when, in 2022, the NWSL club placed then head coach Amanda Cromwell on leave and Hines was promoted to interim head coach. Cromwell was later sacked after 'engaging in retaliatory conduct' towards players who had complained against her in a previous investigation.
The team needed a reset and Hines knew who to call. 'It was a no-brainer to bring Giles in,' Hines says. 'We started out with the culture. We made training fun and enjoyable, but hard work as well. We have to make sure it's enjoyable because you can't hate playing football, it's the best job in the world.'
Barnes adds: 'It was simple – I wanted to help him, he's such a good guy. I did have some questions, because the club had been in a little bit of turmoil, they'd had a lot of investigations, and I was just like: 'Seb, what's it going to take?' and he said: 'We need to just get the culture right and it will be good'. And that was it.'
Not only did they change the culture, in 2024 Orlando won the regular-season title and then the playoffs, becoming the first professional sports team from Orlando to win any major trophy 'There are some big, big clubs here,' says Hines, 'so to bring a championship to Orlando was an extremely proud moment. I think everyone can remember the hard times that Orlando Pride have been through [and we] changed the perception by winning both the shield and championship.
'It was almost like a rebuild. The investment from the ownership group has been tremendous, really trusting us. Everything has come together nicely, on an upward trajectory. Now it's about trying to sustain success and it not just being a one-off. We've set a standard and expectation now.'
Before that, Hines had already made NWSL history by becoming the league's first Black head coach, something that surprised him: 'I didn't know until I got the job. The league had been going for [more than] 10 years so it came as a bit of a shock. Of course, you would like to see a lot more Black coaches or minorities getting those opportunities to be successful in multiple leagues, and I want to be a role model and to make sure everyone can have the same aspirations.'
A former England youth captain, Hines worked under two old England managers, Steve McLaren and Gareth Southgate, at Middlesbrough as well as the former Scotland manager Gordon Strachan and Tony Mowbray – 'He was great for me, he trusted me and helped me develop' – and finally Aitor Karanka. 'It's not a bad list of coaches,' Hines says. 'I've been able to take little pieces away from them which I've tried to implement here.'
As the NWSL approaches its halfway break – for the Euros – Orlando Pride sit second in the table and Barnes adds: 'It's not just about winning one championship. It's 'can you win another one?'' Barnes and Hines have no intention of stopping.