It was the news that Chelsea fans hoped they would never receive.
Barely half an hour after the team had completed a 6-0 demolition of Aston Villa in the Women’s Super League, Chelsea released a short statement announcing that long-term manager Emma Hayes would be leaving at the end of the season. The first line confirmed that Hayes was pursuing “a new opportunity outside of the WSL and club football”, pointing towards a national team position.
Within the hour, sources confirmed she was on the cusp of agreeing to take the vacant role of the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) manager.
Hayes will continue at Chelsea until the end of this season, but her exit is simultaneously surprising and unsurprising.
Few close followers of Chelsea would have expected Hayes to stay at the club indefinitely; she has already been at the helm for 11 years. On and off the pitch, her star has risen to the extent that she is one of the most recognisable figures in the women’s game. She has previously pointed out that the many links she has had to vacancies within men’s football assume she would see them as a more prestigious role than her one at Chelsea, but it seems like the USWNT job has been the one to finally turn her head.
Hayes holds aloft last season’s…
