Emma Hayes MBE Profile

Emma Hayes MBE boasts a glittering coaching CV with both Arsenal and Chelsea where she has established the west London club among Europe's elite.

Emma Hayes MBE is an English soccer manager, currently in charge of the Chelsea women's team in the FA Women's Super League (FA WSL).

Hayes previously coached the Long Island Lady Riders and Iona College before serving as an assistant coach at Arsenal's women's team and then taking charge of the Chicago Red Stars.

Under Hayes' watch, Chelsea have become the dominant force in English women's club soccer. The same was true of Arsenal while she was working at the club.

Early career

Hayes presided over the Long Island Lady Riders from 2001 to 2003 and Iona College from 2003 to 2006, Hayes moved on to Arsenal, where she was first team assistant coach and academy director for Arsenal Ladies in a two-year spell at the club.

In the 2006/07 season, Arsenal became the first team to win the quadruple, picking up every trophy on offer - the league title, League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Women's Cup (the precursor to the UEFA Women's Champions League).

After her spell at Arsenal, Hayes took charge of the Chicago Red Stars in the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). She was in the job between 2008 and 2010.

Emma Hayes and Chelsea

Hayes replaced Matt Beard as manager of Chelsea's women's team in 2012 after the latter moved on to Liverpool.

After Chelsea narrowly missed out on the 2014 WSL 1 title, losing on goal difference to Liverpool, Hayes oversaw a reshape of the squad which paved the way for a new era for Chelsea's women's team.

In 2015, they won their first major trophy, beating Notts County 1-0 in the first FA Women's Cup final to be played at Wembley, with Eniola Aluko setting up Ji So-yun for the winner. They doubled up with the league title, which they secured by beating Sunderland 4-0.

They lost their league title to Manchester City in 2016, but then won it back in 2017/18. The 17/18 season was also noteworthy for Chelsea due to the fact that they reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Women's Champions League for the first time, losing 5-1 on aggregate to Wolfsburg.

In 2018/19, Chelsea once again made the semi-finals of the UEFA Women's Champions League, though they lost their FA WSL title to Arsenal.

In the shortened 2019/20 season, Chelsea won the league title, and in 2020/21, they quickly emerged as frontrunners. They also stormed to a 5-1 aggregate win over Wolfsburg in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Women's Champions League, a performance which had Hayes purring.

"I said it at the end of the game, people like Drew [Spence], Hannah [Blundell], Carly [Telford], myself and Paul [Green], we've been here from the beginning," she told Chelsea's official website.

"We've had to lose eight times to this team in the past, so I know how it feels. To make the progress we've made and showing the investment that the club has made in all of us, I think it's the biggest win in Chelsea history, in my time here.

"The amount of endless hours my staff have put into recruitment, to all the fine details to get us to this level to make sure that when we are in this position, we can close it out, with the quality of the training, the quality of the personnel, the quality of recruitment, the quality of the analysis.

"I know that thousands of hours have gone into getting this win today. I'm extremely proud and grateful."

True to form, Chelsea converted their dominance of the WSL to the League title in the 2020/21 season - their second successive crown - the underline Hayes' position as a giant of the women's game.

Hayes' Chelsea also won the transitory 2017 FA WSL Spring Series, as well as a second FA Women's Cup title under her watch in 2017/18.

Furthermore, they lifted the FA Women's League Cup in 2019/20 and 2020/21 and the FA Women's Community Shield in 2020.

Personal life

Hayes has been open about her struggle with endometriosis, opening up to The Telegraph about the extent to which it affected her during the 2014/15 double-winning season in particular.

"I was in the middle of a double-winning year but I was really struggling," she says. "It was still a summer season. I remember seeing my gynaecologist and he said I would need a laparoscopy. I had that in April. He said they could manage that better with the Mirena coil but I was one of the unfortunate ones to have the Mirena coil perforate my cervix wall.

"I had to have it removed the day before we won the league in 2015 because it caused so many problems. Having never had a laparoscopy before, I didn't realise how painful that process would be."

In the same interview, Hayes explained that she is very proud that at Chelsea she is able to implement a policy with her players which puts women's health first.

"I am certain Chelsea are world leaders at a team level at what we do. For us it is part of our fabric. It is one of the many tenants that we factor into what helps towards our players becoming successful athletes and a successful team," she said.

"I empathise with players. In our culture it is all about strategies and interventions to help the individual based on their individual needs. It is not just about supplements or putting painkillers in your mouth. You have to educate yourself about that. That raising awareness has to start with my players and I have to say they have all become incredibly knowledgeable about the different phases [of the menstrual cycle] and the different interventions they have to make."

In December 2017, Hayes announced she was pregnant, but one of the twins she was expecting did not make it to childbirth.

As Chelsea secured the 2017/18 FA WSL title, Hayes was absent as she gave birth to a baby boy on May 17.

"All at Chelsea FC would like to send our congratulations to Emma," Chelsea said on their official website.

"We ask for Emma's privacy to be respected at this time as she takes a break from football and enjoys life as a new mother."

Hayes studied at Liverpool Hope University and was awarded an MBE in 2016 for services to football.

Emma Hayes' net worth

It is unknown precisely what Hayes is worth, but she has claimed that AFC Wimbledon were "absolutely not" able to afford her to coach their men's team, suggesting that Chelsea are likely paying her enough to compare with some fairly high-profile men's managers.

Planet Sport writer
26 April 2023

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14 June 2022

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Emma Hayes MBE

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