The United States Women’s National Team may soon have esteemed Chelsea FC manager Emma Hayes as its new head soccer coach.
After Chelsea’s 6-0 win over Aston Villa in the Women’s Super League on Saturday, Chelsea announced that Hayes will leave the London-based team at the end of the season “to pursue a new opportunity outside the WSL and club football.”
Multiple outlets reported that Hayes has agreed to a multiyear contract to coach the Americans and that the U.S. Soccer Federation board of directors will hold an emergency meeting within the next few days to sign off on the hire.
USWNT has needed a new coach since Vlatko Andonovski resigned in mid-August after the squad’s disastrous performance in the Women’s World Cup.
The U.S. team was eliminated in the Round of 16 by losing to Sweden on penalty kicks. It marked the club’s earliest exit.
The U.S. scored just four goals in four matches and tallied just one in their last three outings.
Hayes, 47, would have conflicts in upcoming months if she plans to coach USWNT in the 2024 Summer Olympics. Chelsea’s season doesn’t end until May and the U.S. would have matches during the same time period.
“Emma has been one of the biggest drivers of change in women’s football,” Chelsea co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Pau Winstanley said in a joint statement. “Her achievements at Chelsea are unrivalled and will live in the club’s history forever.
“Given everything she has contributed to Chelsea in over a decade with the club, and the legacy she leaves behind, we would never stand in her way when she felt it was the right time to pursue a new challenge.
“We are pleased that she will remain with the club for the remainder of the season to give us the time to identify her successor.”
Since joining Chelsea in 2012, Hayes has won six FA WSL titles and been named manager of the year six times. She was inducted into the WSL Hall of Fame in 2021.
–Field Level Media
