It’s no secret that Sonia Bompastor has extraordinarily big shoes to fill as she takes over from Emma Hayes as Chelsea’s new head coach.
During her 12-year tenure, Hayes swept up 14 major trophies with the Blues, including five successive WSL titles since 2020. Her success however, is defined by more than just silverware.
She has been instrumental in accelerating the growth of women’s football the world over advocating for women’s health, pushing for research into menstrual cycle patterns and encouraging research studies on the correlation between female footballers and ACL injuries.
It’s likely the 47-year-old will now do even more in her new role as head coach of the United States Women’s National Team, perhaps the only job she could take that is bigger than Chelsea.
Despite tears in the eyes of Chelsea fans on the final day of the season as they bade farewell to their trusted leader, it’s important to stress that not all change is bad, and can even present new opportunities. Hayes, for example, was exhausted and absolutely ready to go by her own admission.
With Bompastor comes fresh energy and a different kind of experience, bringing to the role various attributes that could potentially take Chelsea on even further, with Hayes’ legacy as the springboard.
Despite a cupboard bursting with domestic silverware and Hayes’ best efforts over several years, Chelsea are yet to be crowned champions of Europe.
At Lyon, Bompastor became the first person in the history of the Women’s Champions League to win it as both a player (2010/11, 2011/12) and a manager (2021/22). She led Lyon to their eighth title in her first season as head coach in 2022, proving her ability to generate success quickly.
Lyon then returned to the final in 2024, ultimately losing out to Barcelona in Bilbao.
Either way, it’s clear that Bompastor has the potential to fill a gap in the pages of Chelsea’s history book that Hayes couldn’t and for that reason, there’s a lot to be excited about.
Hayes was commended during her time at Chelsea for her ability to give younger players a chance on the big stage. Notably, she helped Erin Cuthbert, Niamh Charles and Aggie-Beever Jones thrive in the professional game during the early stages of their careers, and played a pivotal role in helping the Blues…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at 90min EN…