London
CNN
—
Emma Hayes had only been head coach of the US Women’s National Team for a few months when she led them to an Olympic gold medal last August.
It was the highest-profile success in a career that had included winning 15 trophies in 12 years as manager of Chelsea, including five straight league titles.
But speaking to CNN’s Amanda Davies at the end of last year, Hayes said that for her, football is about more than just the silverware.
“I enjoy winning, but it’s not my motivator,” she said. “I think creating inspiring environments for people to thrive in and creating a landscape where women in particular can thrive and develop, grow, be given opportunity — that’s what I get out of bed for every day.”
Hayes has advocated for women in football throughout her career, unsurprising considering that her dad once told her “to change the face of women’s football.”
She grew up in the London neighborhood of Camden, where her dad was active in the football community, starting a local league, and Hayes was equally obsessed with the sport.
“I was the kid that would come home from school, drop my school bag, run down to the pitch, play till 10 at night,” she recalled.
A warren of music venues, markets and counterculture, Camden is famous for producing artists, actors and campaigners. “I think this diverse, eclectic, little left-of-center place that’s Camden, with our market and multicultural neighborhood, I think has had such a big impact on who I am,” Hayes said.
Why being fired was ‘good for the soul’
A skiing accident at the age of 17 ended her nascent playing career. She studied for a master’s degree in intelligence and international affairs, but in 2002 she returned to football, starting her career as a coach in the US.
Hayes’ first coaching job was with the Long Island Lady Riders. They immediately won their conference and Hayes was made W-League Coach of the Year, before becoming head coach of the women’s team at Iona College in New York, until 2005.
She then spent two years winning multiple trophies as an assistant coach at Arsenal, returning to the US in 2008 to coach the Chicago Red Stars, one of the seven teams established as part of the new Women’s Professional Soccer league. Though the team had a star roster, including Megan Rapinoe, they struggled, finishing sixth out of seven in 2009 and 2010, and Hayes was fired.
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But Hayes says she has that experience to thank for her future success.
“Without being fired, I don’t think I’d be the coach that I am,” she told CNN. “I think that shapes you, and I think you should be fired. I think it’s good for the soul because it develops that little bit of resilience that’s required.”
‘My dad wants me to do it’
After the Chicago Red Stars, Hayes spent some time away from coaching, but in 2012 she became the manager of Chelsea, leading them to unprecedented success.
It was that success that paved the way for her to take the top job with the US Women’s National Team. But just as that coaching role came up in 2023, Hayes’ dad died, and she was caught between her dream job and her grieving family.
“The last thing I wanted to do was abandon anyone,” she said. “I didn’t want to abandon Mum. My sisters needed me. We all needed each other. And all I kept thinking was, ‘I can’t do this. This is selfish.’”
“And then I kept hearing my dad in the background going, ‘This is what you worked your whole life for, this is the one you want.’”
She was driving to work one morning when she heard his voice, telling her: “You have got to go to that interview, you have got to get that job.” She rang her agent and said: “I’ve got to go. My dad wants me to do it.”
Coaching the most dominant team in the history of international women’s football, and the winner of four Women’s World Cup titles, has given her an even bigger opportunity to advocate for women’s football. “I want to use my platform and my voice to support women front and center,” she said.
Hayes is glad to be back in the US, where she thinks there is more equality in football than in her home country. “We’ve got a long way to go in our culture in England to be able to see the value of women in football,” she said.
“There is always a greater sense that the game of football in England is only for males,” she added.
“Unfortunately, still with football, everything is modeled on the men’s game. So we say, ‘oh, we’ve got to run teams like the men’s game. You’ve got a coach them like the men’s game.’ Why do we have to do that?”
In 2024, Hayes won the women’s Johan Cruyff Trophy, the inaugural Ballon d’Or award for the world’s best coach, but Hayes believes there’s plenty still to play for. “Beyond doing the sport I love, I believe I was put on this Earth to build women’s soccer out in a certain way, to push the envelope, to be strategic about that. And it goes beyond winning.”