2 hours ago
3
Eagerly with hands raised in the air, the children from Abbott Community primary school all want to quiz the United States head coach. The plan was for Emma Hayes to just take a few questions from the youngsters at the National Football Museum, but she wants to answer them all. Even her son, Harry, watching on, raises his hand. The tone is light, fun and educational as Hayes celebrates being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The former Chelsea manager, who is being honoured by the National Football Museum for her coaching achievements so far, not least her seven Women’s Super Leagues titles and Olympic gold medal, is quick to point to how glad she is that the “women’s game is in a better place in this country” compared to when she took on the Chelsea job in 2012. Alongside her smiles, though, there is a deep sadness at present. When later sitting down to speak to the Guardian, Hayes issues words of warning to the sport, namely that it must learn lessons from the death of her predecessor at Chelsea, Matt Beard, after the shock news of his death at the age of 47 last month.
“It’s a football community in mourning. It’s a huge loss,” Hayes says. “Mental health is a silent killer and coaches are human beings, and I still think we’ve got a lot of work to do to support more than just players. The LMA [League Managers Association] do a great job but, as the women’s game is growing, we have to reflect on how we support managers in the women’s game at every level, to navigate the pressures and the expectations.
“We’ve entered an age in social media where people get ‘cancelled’ really quickly. It’s easy to criticise, and I don’t think coaches are always thought about as human beings. I feel sad that he [Beard] was in that position where he needed help and support from everyone, but that has to be a learning [for football]. I’m just devastated for his family and for everyone that’s played for him.”
“He gave so much to the women’s game,” Hayes goes on to say, “and so much to all of us, in different ways. He was always on the end of the phone if you needed a chat. His players loved him because he cared about them deeply. He will be remembered most not just for his winning at Liverpool, but for the human being that he was.”
Hayes knows Beard – who led Chelsea to their first women’s FA Cup final in 2012 before going on to to win back-to-back titles at Liverpool – is a key part of the London club’s history, and her team went on to build on those foundations. Now she is delighted to see her successor at Chelsea, Sonia Bompastor, remain unbeaten in the WSL since taking over in the summer of 2024. “The marker for me wasn’t the trophies; it was that I could leave a team that could keep on winning,” Hayes says. “Sonia is doing an amazing job, and Paul Green [Chelsea’s head of women’s football], who deserves so much credit for what he’s done. [It is] why Chelsea are still at the top.”
Hayes is similarly thinking about the future for the United States as she points to the importance of their youth international teams when discussing her love for her latest job. The 48-year-old is also enjoying the work-life balance that comes with international management. “I’ve been so well received out there, they genuinely do love English people in America,” she says. “I feel they’ve adopted me and they look after me, I feel really loved.
“I’m enjoying having a little bit more brain-time in between, so I can think strategically about doing things instead of having a game every three days. I can plan medium- to long-term within the federation, to chart a course for not just the women’s national team but with our youth national teams, for how USA continues to compete at the top end.”
after newsletter promotion
Hayes would not be drawn on her hopes for 2027’s World Cup just yet. “We’ve got to qualify first, you must go one step at a time,” she says when asked about that tournament in Brazil. Her team are on a five-match winning run without conceding, though, and so she adds: “I feel like we’re in a good place. We still need more experience and that’s what we have to try to acquire in these upcoming games, getting them the right exposures at an international level so that, come the qualifications next year, we feel fully prepared, so I’m really excited about our team.”
Whatever she goes on to achieve with the USA, Hayes’s place in English football history is secure, and being inducted into the National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame is clearly a moment of great pride for her. “I view football as a vehicle for good, and when I reflect on all the things I’ve done in my career to this point, the things I’m most grateful for aren’t the wins, they aren’t the individual acknowledgments, it’s the people I’ve met, it’s the foundations that have been put in place for the game,” she says. “I’m just so grateful the women’s game is in a better place in this country.”
