Past Senior AFLW Coaches

Bec Goddard (2016-18)

Bec Goddard added the key words “first AFLW premiership coach” to her varied profile when she led the Crows in their inaugural 2017 season.

The Australian Federal Police officer joined the Crows midway through 2016 after moving to South Australia to be an assistant coach with the under-18 boys’ team at SANFL club Woodville-West Torrens.

Previously, Goddard had gained recognition for becoming the first female umpire (and later coach) in the NEAFL and being awarded the 2015 AFL Football Woman of the Year Award.

Under her guidance, the Crows were dominant in the AFLW and finished second on the ladder with five wins and two losses and the highest points total in the competition. Adelaide defeated the Brisbane Lions in the Grand Final to clinch the inaugural AFLW Premiership trophy.

In 2017, she was named AFLW All-Australian coach, South Australian Sports Coach of the Year and AFL Football Woman of the Year.

Goddard left at the end of the following season when the Crows missed the finals and finished fifth with three wins, three losses, and a draw.

“I’ll always be proud of what we achieved and grateful to the Adelaide Football Club for the opportunity,” said Goddard, who was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2021.

Matthew Clarke (2019-25)

Matthew Clarke spent eight seasons in charge of Adelaide’s AFLW program and coached the side to two premierships from three grand finals.

Clarke was an assistant coach of the AFL side when he took on the role with the women’s team ahead of the 2019 season. The Crows lost the first game under his guidance but then won eight consecutive games including the grand final against Carlton at Adelaide Oval.

The following year, Adelaide finished second from the bottom in Conference A with a win-loss record of 2-4. But the Crows quickly returned as a dominant force, claiming back-to-back minor premierships, going down to Brisbane in the 2021 grand final and securing the 2022 season six premiership against Melbourne.

After that triumph, the Crows continued to challenge but were bundled out in three consecutive preliminary finals. In Clarke’s last season as coach (2025) Adelaide finished sixth at the end of the minor round, won its first final and then lost to Melbourne.

Clarke, from Mt Gambier, played a total of 258 AFL games for Brisbane, Adelaide and St Kilda and then was ruck coach with the Crows from 2008 until the end of the 2023 season. He received Life Membership of the Adelaide Football Club in 2023 and is also an AFL Life Member.