Nigerian-born football administrator Lola Ogunbote has taken up a new role at Chelsea Women after ending a near five-year spell with Burnley. Ogunbote has joined the London club as Head of Football Operations and Player Services, having already begun working behind the scenes at Chelsea earlier in the summer. Her……
Nigerian-born football administrator Lola Ogunbote has taken up a new role at Chelsea Women after ending a near five-year spell with Burnley.
Ogunbote has joined the London club as Head of Football Operations and Player Services, having already begun working behind the scenes at Chelsea earlier in the summer.
Her early responsibilities have included overseeing key aspects of the women’s team’s operations, including its pre-season tour in Australia and New Zealand and the club’s move between venues for Women’s Super League and UEFA Women’s Champions League fixtures.
The appointment marks another significant step in Ogunbote’s growing career in football administration after she spent almost five years helping to develop Burnley Women’s football structure.
She arrived at Burnley in 2021 as the club’s first-ever Head of Women’s Football and played a central role in building the women’s programme, with responsibilities spanning recruitment, player development, performance structures and wider football operations.
Her work at Burnley culminated in the club achieving promotion last season after Burnley Women won the FA Women’s National League Northern Premier Division title.
Burnley confirmed on June 23 that Ogunbote would leave the club at the end of the month, bringing her time in Lancashire to an end after almost five years.
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At Chelsea, Ogunbote has stepped into a role that places her at the heart of the club’s football operations. She has already been involved in delivering the team’s pre-season tour and managing the logistical demands created by the club’s decision to stage WSL home fixtures at Stamford Bridge and Champions League games at AFC Wimbledon.
She has also been involved in matchday operations across both competitions as Chelsea seek to regain their position at the top of the women’s game after finishing third in the WSL last season behind Manchester City and Arsenal.
Ogunbote’s route into football has been far from conventional. A UK-qualified lawyer, she previously worked at Goldman Sachs before leaving the corporate sector in 2016 to pursue a career in football.
She subsequently joined Arsenal’s Gap Year programme and gained experience in coaching, player development and football operations across different countries.
Born in Nigeria and raised in East London after moving to Britain as a baby, Ogunbote has also remained committed to creating opportunities for girls through football, particularly in Africa.
She serves as an executive director of the United States-based Goals for Girls and brought the organisation’s leadership and football programme to Surulere, Lagos, in February 2026.
The two-day programme brought together 300 female students from 10 schools, combining football drills with leadership development.
Her work in football administration earned her a place on the 2024 Football Black List in the administration category, alongside notable figures including Paul Elliott, Mark Esiri and Fleur Robinson.
Ogunbote’s arrival at Chelsea also adds another Nigerian connection to the WSL, which currently features Super Falcons goalkeeper Comfort Erhabor at Crystal Palace and Rofiat Imuran at Aston Villa.
