Emma Hayes set to become next U.S. women’s soccer team manager

Veteran English manager Emma Hayes is set to become the next manager of the U.S. women’s soccer team, and the official announcement could come soon.

A source with knowledge of the matter told The Inquirer U.S. Soccer Federation’s board of directors formally approved the hiring of the longtime Chelsea boss on Saturday, after the club announced she’ll leave at the end of the English Women’s Super League season in May. U.S. Soccer and Chelsea are currently negotiating a way for her to handle both jobs until then.

Chelsea’s announcement sparked immediate speculation that Hayes was headed this way, and, within minutes, there were firm reports in the media. There also was an eruption of reaction on social media from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, with much of the U.S. team’s rabid fan base cheering the hire.

Hayes’ hiring is indeed good news. It’s also quite a surprise. The 47-year is one of the elite managers in the women’s game, but was never among the favorites for the job because of a widespread sense she wouldn’t leave Chelsea right now. U.S. Soccer also wanted a hire in place by the start of December, as sporting director Matt Crocker said in September.

In 11 years at Chelsea, Hayes guided the Blues to six Women’s Super League titles, including the last four straight. She’s also won five FA Cups, reached three Champions League semifinals and a final, and won FIFA’s best coach in the world award in 2021.

Importantly, Hayes has long had ties to the United States. She coached an amateur team on Long Island from 2001-03, Iona College’s women’s team from 2003-06, and the Chicago Red Stars in Women’s Professional Soccer (the National Women’s Soccer League’s predecessor) from 2009-10. Hayes then had short-term consulting roles with the Western New York Flash and Washington Freedom before returning to London in 2012.

This summer, Hayes recruited two marquee young American attackers to Chelsea, 22-year-old striker Mia Fishel and 24-year-old creator Catarina Macario — the latter of whom would have played a huge role at this year’s World Cup if not for an ACL injury. Hayes also brought U.S. veteran Crystal Dunn to Chelsea in 2017 for the year.

After the U.S. crashed out of the World Cup in the round of 16 and Vlatko Andonovski departed, word started going around women’s soccer circles that Hayes was interested in the job — but that she wanted to win a Champions League title at Chelsea first.

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With the Olympics coming quickly next year, it seemed unlikely that there’d be a way for Hayes to get a job that would demand a commitment both immediate and long-term. The Olympics are preceded not just by the usual friendly games, but by a Concacaf women’s Gold Cup in February and March with four South American teams as invited guests: powers Brazil and Colombia, plus Argentina and Paraguay.

So when The Athletic reported on Oct. 27 that the U.S. short list was Australia’s Tony Gustavsson, OL Reign’s Laura Harvey (the runner-up to Andonovski four years ago), and Juventus’ Joe Montemurro, there wasn’t much surprise.

While the search was ongoing, Twila Kilgore served as interim manager for four friendly games across September and October.

On Saturday morning, the plot wasn’t just twisted, it was torn up and tossed in the air. Out of nowhere, Chelsea announced Hayes’ forthcoming departure “to pursue a new opportunity outside of the WSL and club football.”

Within minutes, U.S. news outlets Backheeled and The Equalizer and England’s Telegraph newspaper reported Hayes was in talks with U.S. Soccer.

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Word soon came to The Inquirer and other outlets that the deal wasn’t all the way done yet. Chiefly, U.S. Soccer’s board of directors hadn’t yet voted to approve Hayes’ contract, which it has to do by rule. But a meeting was quickly scheduled and executed Saturday afternoon.

The meeting likely included a discussion of Hayes’ salary, since the board had to know it — and the potential for it to match U.S. men’s manager Gregg Berhalter’s pay. U.S. Soccer has never paid its senior men’s and women’s national team managers equally, but it seems to be on the table.

The Athletic reported Saturday that U.S. Soccer gave Hayes “a record-breaking offer” that will make her “the highest paid coach in world women’s football.”

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The Washington Post reported that U.S. players were told of Hayes’ hiring via email Saturday. The Telegraph reported that Chelsea players were told after Saturday’s game, a 6-0 rout of Aston Villa.

The Telegraph also reported that Hayes will bring her longtime assistant coach Denise Reddy, a northern New Jersey native and Rutgers alumna, with her to the U.S. staff. Reddy played soccer and basketball for the Scarlet Knights, then went on to coach a range of soccer teams including Sky Blue FC from 2017-19. She was an assistant with the U.S. under-20s in 2020, coincidentally coached by Harvey at the time.

Backheeled reported that Hayes could come to the U.S. for some FIFA windows between now and the end of Chelsea’s season. “Could” may be a key word there, though, and how the Gold Cup is handled remains a big question. The tournament runs Feb. 20-March 10, far longer than the standard FIFA window of Feb. 19-28, with the world governing body’s blessing.

For now, the most important formalities of Hayes’ hiring are done. And it seems we might not have to wait long to learn the rest of the answers.

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