Nigerian-born football administrator Lola Ogunbote has taken another major step in her career after joining Chelsea Women as the club’s new Head of Football Operations and Player Services.
Ogunbote joins the London club after almost five years with Burnley Women, where she helped build the structure of the club’s women’s football programme and became its first Head of Women’s Football.
She had already begun working with Chelsea earlier this summer, taking charge of several operational responsibilities around the women’s team, including its pre-season tour of Australia and New Zealand.
Her role has also involved managing the logistical demands of Chelsea Women playing their home fixtures across different venues. The club use Stamford Bridge for Women’s Super League matches, while AFC Wimbledon hosts their UEFA Women’s Champions League games.
Ogunbote’s move to Chelsea follows a successful spell at Burnley, which began in 2021. She worked across recruitment, player development, performance structures and the wider administration of the women’s programme.
Her time at Burnley ended with promotion. The club won the FA Women’s National League Northern Premier Division title last season, securing their return to the Women’s Championship.
Burnley announced on June 23 that Ogunbote would leave at the end of the month, bringing her nearly five-year tenure at the club to an end.
She now takes up a key role at Chelsea as the club seeks to strengthen its position in the women’s game after finishing third in the Women’s Super League last season behind champions Manchester City and runners-up Arsenal.
Ogunbote’s influence extends beyond her work at professional clubs. She is an executive director of US-based organisation Goals for Girls, which uses football to create leadership and development opportunities for girls.
In February 2026, she helped bring the organisation’s leadership and football programme to Surulere, Lagos. The two-day initiative involved 300 female students from 10 schools and combined football training with leadership development.
Her contribution to football administration was also recognised when she was named on the 2024 Football Black List in the administration category, alongside figures including Paul Elliott, Mark Esiri and Fleur Robinson.
Although born in Nigeria, Ogunbote was raised in East London after moving to Britain as a baby.
Her appointment adds another Nigerian connection to the Women’s Super League, which also features Super Falcons goalkeeper Comfort Erhabor at Crystal Palace and Rofiat Imuran at Aston Villa.
For Ogunbote, the Chelsea appointment represents the latest stage of a career that has increasingly placed her at the centre of the growth and professionalisation of women’s football.
