Chelsea Women coach Emma Hayes will leave the Women’s Super League club at the end of the 2023-24 season to take charge of the United States women’s national team. This is according to sources briefed on the hiring process, who remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the decision.
Chelsea announced Hayes’ departure on Saturday. The U.S. Soccer Federation declined to comment.
Discussions are well advanced and if all goes according to plan, Hayes will become the highest paid coach in world women’s soccer when she joins US Soccer. The federation, which has signed collective bargaining agreements that guarantee equal pay for its senior men’s and women’s national team players in 2022, may seek to align Hayes with U.S. men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Berhalter’s salary was reported at $1.6 million in USSF’s 2022 financial filings and is expected to have received an increase since signing a new contract with the federation.
Hayes will leave with Chelsea’s blessing and the west London club are not demanding any compensation in return for her finishing the season on an exclusive basis. Chelsea is also keen to find out how she can help them grow while she is in the United States.
Chelsea’s season ends on May 18th at the earliest, but could be extended if Chelsea reach the UEFA Women’s Champions League final on May 25th. That means Hayes’ first opportunity to join the U.S. national team would be for the international window that begins May 27, 2024. The U.S. will play two games during that period, with two more games scheduled in a FIFA window from May 8-16 July planned. The women’s Olympic football tournament begins on July 25th.
Matt Crocker, US Soccer’s director of athletics, had previously indicated that the organization intended to name Vlatko Andonovski’s permanent successor in early December. Twila Kilgore became interim head coach of the USWNT after Andonovski resigned in August following his team’s round-of-16 exit from the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
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Hayes joined Chelsea in 2012 and has secured six WSL titles, five FA Cups, two FA Women’s League Cups, an FA Women’s Spring Series trophy and a Women’s Community Shield during her time at the club.
Chelsea co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said: “Emma has been one of the biggest drivers of change in women’s football. Her achievements at Chelsea are unrivaled and will forever be etched in the club’s history.
“Given all she has contributed to Chelsea in over a decade at the club and the legacy she leaves behind, we would never stand in her way if she felt it was the right time to pursue a new one to face the challenge.”
Hayes led Chelsea to the domestic treble in 2021 and was named Manager of the Season six times and LMA WSL Manager of the Season five times. Last year she was awarded an OBE for her services to football. This followed an MBE, which she received in 2016.
Chelsea, the reigning champions, are top of the WSL and return to action next Sunday away to Everton.
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What this means for the USWNT
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For the players, this news means they haven’t quite gotten over their post-World Cup doldrums yet.
The USWNT played four friendlies on home soil under Kilgore, winning twice against South Africa before winning and drawing against Colombia in late October. Although the World Cup appearance highlighted the need for this program to embrace the emerging generation of young players, Kilgore has pushed the youth movement forward at a snail’s pace.
Hayes does have experience in the US, but only in the club sector and a full 12 years after leaving her position as technical director at the Western New York Flash. It’s fair to wonder how she will deal with the nature of international football and how she will generally tackle a new project after over a decade at Chelsea.
Still, she is a name that has been at the top of most people’s wish list following the retirement of Vlatko Andonovski. Since she has a significant amount of media credits over the years, her candor in interviews could also contribute to how the fan base perceives the show.
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(Photo: Harriet Lander – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)