During her ten-year tenure as Chelsea Women’s manager, Emma Hayes won six league championships and five FA Cups, solidifying her position as one of the nation’s top coaches. During their summertime search for a new manager, Gary Lineker advised Leicester City to approach Chelsea Women manager Emma Hayes.
One of Leicester’s most beloved sons, Lineker, claimed to have informed City Hayes that she might succeed at the King Power Stadium and that it would be a “massive PR opportunity” to be the first English club to permanently appoint a female manager of a men’s team.
However, according to Lineker, City warned him it was “a step too far at this stage,” and the club later named Enzo Maresca, Pep Guardiola’s right-hand man, as their new manager.
After having great success in her position at Chelsea, where she has won six league titles, five FA Cups, and led the team to the Champions League final in 2021, Hayes has established a reputation as one of the nation’s top managers.
.In the summer, when Leicester was seeking for a new manager, Lineker remarked on the podcast The Rest is Football: “I actually got in touch with the club with a little notion I had, which was for them to go for Emma Hayes from Chelsea.
Imagine becoming the first major football club to hire a woman as a coach. She’s amazing, absolutely legitimate. It would have generated a ton of media attention, especially at the time when the club had dropped to the Championship. It isn’t a prank at all, but in a way it is since there would be a huge PR opportunity.
“They did get in touch with me and say that at this point, it’s definitely a step too far. I merely believed it to be a wise decision.
Hayes has frequently stated that she does not enjoy that her position at Chelsea is frequently framed as a stepping stone to the men’s game, most notably with AFC Wimbledon a number of years ago. However, Hayes has been frequently tipped for a post in men’s football.
At the end of the previous month, Hayes said in an interview with BBC Woman’s Hour, “It’s the ongoing questioning of when am I moving into the men’s game. I work with elite athletes and the women’s game is at a high level.
“I don’t mean to speak poorly of any male team or male club, but the fact is that I already coach elite players, and I think it’s important to see that in and of itself rather than as a stepping stone to something,” the author said.
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