Football ‘needs to wake up’, the women’s game isn’t a ‘step down’

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes was linked with a switch to the men’s game with AFC Wimbledon, but any suggestion that would be a step up she calls an ‘insult’

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes (Getty Images)

The idea that leaving the best team in women’s football for League One would be a step up has been labelled “insulting” by one of most successful managers in the game.

Chelsea Women boss Emma Hayes has been heavily linked with taking over at AFC Wimbledon in the men’s game after a glittering run with the Women’s Super League team.

Hayes’s all-conquering side are unbeaten in 33 matches in the WSL and have another shot at silverware around the corner in the League Cup.

The 44-year-old has Chelsea playing open, attractive and, most importantly, winning football at a time when more eyes than ever are on the women’s game.

Hayes, who continues to be linked with the Dons and was touted as a possible replacement for Frank Lampard in the men’s job, criticised the notion that her role would ever be considered to be a stepping stone to something bigger.

“I just don't know why anybody would ever think women's football is a step down,” Hayes said. “How coaching World Cup winners, players who have represented their country in the Olympics or European Championships, is a step down from anything.

“I think the football world needs to wake up and recognise that women’s football, while the game is played by a different gender, is exactly the same.

“Fran Kirby, Pernille Harder, Beth England, Magda Eriksson, Millie Bright, Maren Mjelde - do you want me to keep going? These are world class players.

“Women's football, in its own right, is something to celebrate. It's an insult to them that we talk about women's football being a step down, with the dedication and the commitment and the quality that they have.

“I manage and represent elite world class players. And this, for me is an amazing job that I've spent nine years cultivating all my energy into. I'm not looking for another job.”

Hayes has won three Women’s Super League titles, two FA Cups and one League Cup in her nine years as manager and look on course for more silverware this year with Chelsea in contention in all three domestic competitions as well as in Europe with the Champions League, the sole trophy that still eludes her in her time with the Blues.

Chelsea have mounted a strong defence of the League Cup and face West Ham, who sit 25 points behind them in the league, in the semi-finals this week.

Skipper Magda Eriksson welcomed rumours linking Hayes with a move.

“I understand that Emma is on the market and people want to grab her”, she said. “She's been getting great results with us.

“We are a long way from [a woman managing in the EFL]. I think it's positive that there are rumours; at least the question is out there. It's getting talked about.

“I hope Emma stays and then I hope she doesn't feel like she's finished with us yet. But I think we do need more diversity in the leadership roles on the men's side.

“It is about time that this gets talked about.”