Bell, who was appointed in February 2017, has accepted the role of Assistant Head Coach at the English Championship club and will start work immediately.
FAI High Performance Director Ruud Dokter paid tribute to Colin Bell’s work with the Irish squad over the last two years.
He said: “Colin has done a fantastic job in his time with Ireland and I want to thank him for that. He has introduced new players to international football and brought our team to a new place. The World Cup qualifying campaign saw him bed in his ideas very quickly and the players responded with high level performances. His passion, commitment and desire to develop women’s football in Ireland was exemplary and I wish him well at Huddersfield. The challenge now for the new management and the players is to qualify for the European Championships.”
FAI President Donal Conway said: “It has been a pleasure to work with Colin over the last two years and we are very disappointed to lose him. However, I can understand why a top club in England would want him and Colin has decided that this is the right move for him at this time.
“On behalf of the board of the FAI, I would like to thank Colin for his work with the Women’s National Team at the association.”
FAI General Manager for Football Services and Partnerships Noel Mooney said: “Colin did extremely well with the Women's National Team and while we didn't want to see him go, I wish him the very best in his new role and for the future. We will now commence the process of finding a top-class Head Coach to replace Colin ahead of the European Championship qualifying games which kick-off in the autumn.”
Bell oversaw 22 Women’s National Team games including 10 Women’s World Cup qualifying round games, which saw the Republic of Ireland finish third, only behind Norway and the Netherlands, who both made it to the last eight of the competition which is currently taking place in France.
Republic of Ireland Women’s National Team will kick-off their European Championship qualifiers against Montenegro on September 3 in Tallaght Stadium.