Gervaise succeeds Akers at Arsenal

Tony Gervaise has been appointed as manager of Arsenal LFC as they prepare to enter the new UEFA Women's Champions League.

Gervaise appointment
Gervaise, 54, joined Arsenal a year ago from his previous job as the Scottish Football Association's head of women's youth development to become academy director and assistant to Vic Akers, who ended his 22-season reign last month. He takes over a team that won the English treble in 2008/09 despite the loss of several key players, taking Akers's tally of major honours to 32 including the 2006/07 UEFA Women's Cup and the last six FA Women's Premier League titles.

'Onwards and upwards'
"Vic has had a unique time and he has worked tremendously hard at that," Gervaise, who led Scotland to the 2005 UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship finals, told Arsenal's official website. "We lost a lot of senior players last season but the squad maintained their standards and took it one better by winning the treble. It was an immense achievement and we will take that forward and use that enthusiasm, hunger and drive. The mentality at Arsenal is first class and it's onwards and upwards as far as I'm concerned. I look forward to it immensely."

German title race
Arsenal will enter the UEFA Women's Champions League in the Round of 32 on 30 September and 7 October, discovering their opponents on 14 August. Final UEFA Women's Cup winners FCR 2001 Duisburg will also be in the draw, and could yet claim their first Frauen-Bundesliga title when the season concludes on Sunday. Fresh from lifting the German Cup at the weekend by beating 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam 6-0, Duisburg kept their hopes alive with a similarly impressive 4-0 victory at title rivals FC Bayern München on Wednesday, two Inka Grings strikes taking her six clear of VfL Wolfsburg's Martina Müller in the goalscorers' table on virtually certain to top it for the fifth time.

Goal difference
However, Duisburg remain a point adrift of Potsdam and Bayern, who fell one goal behind Turbine due to the margin of their loss to FCR. On Sunday afternoon Potsdam welcome Wolfsburg, Bayern travel to bottom side TSV Crailsheim and Duisburg welcome SC Freiburg. Potsdam and Bayern both need a top-two finish to join Duisburg in the UEFA Women's Champions League, and should FCR end up in third Germany will be the only nation with three entrants.