Chelsea manager Emma Hayes believes women have had to become used to dealing with “systemic misogyny and bullying” in football.
Hayes is one of the most successful managers in either the men’s or women’s game over the last decade after six Women’s Super League titles with the London club including four in a row.
She also enjoys an acclaimed media career away from the sideline and is a regular television analyst for ITV in the UK.
Despite her success Hayes, who is set to leave Chelsea at the end of the season to take over the United States’ women’s team, knows all too well the difficulty that many women face within the sport.
Asked for her thoughts on the subject on Friday, she said. “The realities are that male privilege has been something that has always been at the centre of football in this country. Women were banned from playing football up until the seventies — I don’t expect any individual or personality to understand their privilege.
“Nonetheless, you only have to see scores of women across the internet or in the business, whether you are a presenter, you are a coach or a player to realise that we are routinely used to dealing with systemic mysogyny, bullying and behaviour that has been pretty normal for a large part of the football public.”
She…
