West London’s Emma Hayes spots gap in hiring of female coaches
Chelsea's manager Emma Hayes calls a lack of female football coaches in England, "a massive issue" which the game needs to address in "more creative ways".
Emma Hayes has been with Chelsea WSL Club since 2012
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“We’ve got a lot of work to do to close that gap,” Hayes said. She says there should be “minimum standards” for professional clubs around the hiring of female coaches, and more support to help women afford the cost of gaining qualifications.
The 47-year-old will become the next USA women’s national team manager this summer, after leading Chelsea to their fourth consecutive Women’s Super League (WSL) title last season.
Currently only a third of WSL clubs have female managers, “We have to recognise that the opportunities are few and far between. We need to think of different ways to educate women from a younger age”, she said.
“To keep winning, like we have done for so many years, will be a challenge in itself” she said. “But to do it knowing that there’s change coming at the end of the year, will be a real credit and a testament to the players to be able to stay focused.”
Chelsea’s coach Emma Hayes directs her team during the UEFA Women’s Champions League final soccer match between Chelsea FC and FC Barcelona in Gothenburg, Sweden, on May 16, 2021. Credit: AP
London clubs have won the most number of titles in the league. Coaches like Laura Harvey (Arsenal 2010-12) and Emma Hayes have brought more wins to the City than other managers.
Taking a look at the top 10 managers with a high percentage win rate in the WSL it’s seen that only four female coaches have made the list. But an interesting fact is that Joe Montemurro is the only male coach to win a title with Arsenal back in 2019.
Laura Harvey and Emma Hayes had an above 70% win rate as a manager.
In fact after Shelley Kerr, Arsenal has had four male coaches in which Pedro Martinez Losa had a high win percentage of games (above 55%) but had no title in hand.
Although there is no correlation between the gender of coaches leading to victories for a club, it can be seen that longer tenures with the team has definitely seen an increase in match victories. Meanwhile history has shown that for clubs in London, female managers have dominated winning titles in the WSL.
A few male coaches in the league had transferred to different teams in the league while female coaches took their opportunities abroad. Matt Beard who currently coaches Liverpool is has been in the league since 2009 and coached many teams within the league.
Despite an increase in the number of girls and women playing football in England in recent years, there are few female coaches at the top of the sport, and the men’s professional game is yet to see the permanent appointment of a female first-team coach.
Following Brighton’s leave of Melissa Phillips last week, Carla Ward (Aston Villa), Rehanne Skinner (West Ham), and Lauren Smith (Bristol City) are the only other female head coaches in the WSL, alongside Hayes. Now there are six female bosses in the Women’s Championship.
“We have to think about educating players much earlier on in their careers, maybe even during international breaks where there’s more downtime… and most importantly, support so that they can go through the coach education. We have to commit more money to coaches, not just in the women’s game, but women coaches in general.”
Emma Hayes
The FA says it has dedicated grassroots coach developers as part of its strategy for the women’s game, and claims there was an 83% increase in the number of female coaches with Level 1 qualifications and above for the past two years.
The League Managers’ Association (LMA) told BBC Sport that, since the emergence of role models such as Hayes and England coach Sarina Wiegman, there was now a “vital need for significant improvement” in the number of qualified women coaches.
Once an independent body known as ‘NewCo’ takes over the top two divisions in the game this year “significant consideration” should be given to making the employment of a qualified female head or assistant coach a mandatory requirement.
With an inspiring and growing interest in the sport data shows that average audiences increased to 522K in 2022/223(BBC One and Two). Arsenal v Spurs became the most watched WSL match on linear TV ever. The game aired on BBC One and received an average audience of 762k.
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HeadlineWest London’s Emma Hayes spots gap in hiring of female coaches
Short HeadlineWSL manager on shortfall of female coaches
StandfirstChelsea's manager Emma Hayes calls a lack of female football coaches in England, "a massive issue" which the game needs to address in "more creative ways".
“We’ve got a lot of work to do to close that gap,” Hayes said. She says there should be “minimum standards” for professional clubs around the hiring of female coaches, and more support to help women afford the cost of gaining qualifications.
The 47-year-old will become the next USA women’s national team manager this summer, after leading Chelsea to their fourth consecutive Women’s Super League (WSL) title last season.
Currently only a third of WSL clubs have female managers, “We have to recognise that the opportunities are few and far between. We need to think of different ways to educate women from a younger age”, she said.
“To keep winning, like we have done for so many years, will be a challenge in itself” she said. “But to do it knowing that there’s change coming at the end of the year, will be a real credit and a testament to the players to be able to stay focused.”
Chelsea’s coach Emma Hayes directs her team during the UEFA Women’s Champions League final soccer match between Chelsea FC and FC Barcelona in Gothenburg, Sweden, on May 16, 2021. Credit: AP
London clubs have won the most number of titles in the league. Coaches like Laura Harvey (Arsenal 2010-12) and Emma Hayes have brought more wins to the City than other managers.
Taking a look at the top 10 managers with a high percentage win rate in the WSL it’s seen that only four female coaches have made the list. But an interesting fact is that Joe Montemurro is the only male coach to win a title with Arsenal back in 2019.
Laura Harvey and Emma Hayes had an above 70% win rate as a manager.
In fact after Shelley Kerr, Arsenal has had four male coaches in which Pedro Martinez Losa had a high win percentage of games (above 55%) but had no title in hand.
Although there is no correlation between the gender of coaches leading to victories for a club, it can be seen that longer tenures with the team has definitely seen an increase in match victories. Meanwhile history has shown that for clubs in London, female managers have dominated winning titles in the WSL.
A few male coaches in the league had transferred to different teams in the league while female coaches took their opportunities abroad. Matt Beard who currently coaches Liverpool is has been in the league since 2009 and coached many teams within the league.
Despite an increase in the number of girls and women playing football in England in recent years, there are few female coaches at the top of the sport, and the men’s professional game is yet to see the permanent appointment of a female first-team coach.
Following Brighton’s leave of Melissa Phillips last week, Carla Ward (Aston Villa), Rehanne Skinner (West Ham), and Lauren Smith (Bristol City) are the only other female head coaches in the WSL, alongside Hayes. Now there are six female bosses in the Women’s Championship.
“We have to think about educating players much earlier on in their careers, maybe even during international breaks where there’s more downtime… and most importantly, support so that they can go through the coach education. We have to commit more money to coaches, not just in the women’s game, but women coaches in general.”
Emma Hayes
The FA says it has dedicated grassroots coach developers as part of its strategy for the women’s game, and claims there was an 83% increase in the number of female coaches with Level 1 qualifications and above for the past two years.
The League Managers’ Association (LMA) told BBC Sport that, since the emergence of role models such as Hayes and England coach Sarina Wiegman, there was now a “vital need for significant improvement” in the number of qualified women coaches.
Once an independent body known as ‘NewCo’ takes over the top two divisions in the game this year “significant consideration” should be given to making the employment of a qualified female head or assistant coach a mandatory requirement.
With an inspiring and growing interest in the sport data shows that average audiences increased to 522K in 2022/223(BBC One and Two). Arsenal v Spurs became the most watched WSL match on linear TV ever. The game aired on BBC One and received an average audience of 762k.
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