French second division team Clermont Foot have appointed a female coach as their next manager.

Helena Costa previously worked as a scout for Celtic, and leaves her role in charge of the Iran women's side.

She also has extensive experience within Benfica's coaching setup and also won the Lisbon regional championship eight years ago.

Her appointment is a first for France and she will take over the role full time at the end of the current season.

Clermont play in Ligue 2 and are currently in 14th spot this season.

She becomes the first female manager to take charge of a club in the top two tiers of a major European men's league and Clermont said that it "should help the club enter a new era".