As the teams walked out of the Old Trafford tunnel for the final day of the Women’s Super League (WSL) season, Emma Hayes waved briefly to the 3,000 away fans congregated in the corner of the stadium.
While the day represented a moment of celebration for the departing Chelsea manager, there were undoubtedly nerves. She knew her team would likely need a win, and ideally by multiple goals, to secure a fifth consecutive WSL title in her final act before leaving to take charge of the U.S. Women’s National Team.
Earlier in the season, Hayes showed a PowerPoint presentation to her squad. One slide showed the four trophies they were in contention for at that point: WSL, FA Cup, Continental Cup and Champions League. The following slide was empty.
There have been points this season at which her players must have felt like that slideshow was more of a jinx than it was motivation. After the Liverpool match on May 1, when they lost 4-3 and appeared to have handed the title to Manchester City, it seemed like Hayes did too. She declared it had slipped out of their grasp that night.
Four days later she was at Kingsmeadow declaring the opposite as she was honoured in her final home game as Chelsea manager. “Work drinks are cancelled, this is not f****** over,” she said. Chelsea had just…
