The first time Emma Hayes introduced herself to the US Women’s National Team (USWNT) she put a photo up on the big screen.
The photo showed the intersection on Camden High Street, north London, just outside a pub called the World’s End. Hayes said to the players: “This is Camden, England. This is where I’m from. This is what made me.”
So when Hayes returned to the UK ahead of England vs USWNT at Wembley on Saturday, U.S. Soccer decided to use the pub as the setting for her pre-match press conference. A press conference in a pub — that must be a first.
So, at 11am on a Monday morning, The Athletic was weaving our way down a pub’s staircase, round the bar, past some less-than-salubrious toilets, into Underworld, a black-walled basement club where Hayes spent much of her youth dancing until 3am.
“I remember many an evening we would come in here, and thankfully it still smells of fart and feet,” said Hayes, who’d been greeted with a ‘Welcome back Emma’ sign outside. “It was a big indie place for me back in the day and I definitely have not seen this place in the daylight so that’s refreshing.”
Although the music blaring from the speakers remains the same, the agenda and vibe at this time in the morning were slightly different — not least the fact that…
