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The ex-Blues boss was adamant that the men's game was not yet ready for female team managers
Ex-Chelsea women’s head coach Emma Hayes has spoken out about the potential for women to manage top men’s football teams, echoing her belief that the men’s game is still not ready for female managers at the highest levels.
Hayes assesses lack of women in men’s football
Currently the manager of the United States women’s national team after a successful stint at Chelsea, Hayes gave an assessment of the situation.
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When asked if the men's game was prepared to see female head coaches, she replied, “Of course, they're not; otherwise, it would have happened by now.
“I've said this a million times over – you can find a female pilot, a female doctor, a female lawyer, a female banker, but you can't find a female coach working in the men's game, leading men. It just shows you how much work there is to be done."
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When asked what it would take for female coaches to be appointed to men’s teams, she added, “You need to get more owners in to ask them that question, because they're the people you have to ask.”
History of women in men’s football
The closest a woman has come to coaching a men’s team in England’s top leagues was Hannah Dingley, who was appointed as caretaker manager of Forest Green Rovers in 2023.
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Despite this, no woman has ever been given a permanent managerial position in the top five tiers of English football.
With her impressive record, including seven Women’s Super League titles at Chelsea, Hayes has been approached in the past about taking over a men’s team.
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She was linked with taking over the Chelsea men’s team after Maurizio Sarri quit in 2019 and was approached by AFC Wimbledon in 2021, but neither move materialised, with Hayes rejecting the latter move with the League One club, describing it as an insult to women’s football.
England women’s national team manager, Sarina Wiegman, was also touted as a possible successor to ex-Three Lions’ boss Gareth Southgate.
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