- Hayes will finish the WSL season with Chelsea and move to the US in the summer
- She said she had ‘dreamed of coaching USA for a long time’
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US Soccer officially announced on Tuesday that Chelsea Women’s manager Emma Hayes will take over the top spot at the USWNT.
Hayes will complete the remainder of the 2023-2024 Women’s Super League season in England before joining the United States approximately two months before the start of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
In a press release, Hayes spoke about the opportunity, calling it a “dream come true.”
“This is a tremendous honor to have the opportunity to coach the most incredible team in football history,” said Hayes. “The feelings and connection I have for this team and for this country run deep.
“I have dreamed of coaching the United States for a long time, so to have this opportunity is a dream come true. I know there is work to be done to achieve our goals of winning consistently at the highest level.
“To get there, it will take dedication, commitment and cooperation from the players, staff and everyone at the U.S. Soccer Federation.”
Chelsea’s Emma Hayes has been officially announced as the next manager of the USWNT
Hayes will take over the US women’s job at the end of the current WSL season
Hayes has won six league titles and five Women’s FA Cup trophies with the Blues
U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone had no words of praise for Hayes, saying, “Emma is a fantastic leader and world-class coach who sets high standards for herself and everyone around her.
‘She has enormous energy and an insatiable will to win. Her experience in the US, her understanding of our football landscape and her appreciation for what it means to coach this team make her a natural fit for this role and we couldn’t be more excited to have her leading our women’s national team forward.”
As Hayes wraps up the season at Chelsea, US Soccer says current interim manager Twila Kilgore will remain in her role. Kilgore will join Hayes’ staff once the new full-time manager arrives.
Hayes is one of the most successful managers in women’s football today. He has coached the Blues to winning the last four consecutive WSL titles and six in total.
Chelsea are the current holders of both the WSL and Women’s FA Cup – a trophy they have won five times.
She has extensive coaching experience in the United States, having led the Long Island Lady Riders and the Chicago Red Stars at the professional level, as well as the women’s soccer team at Iona University in New York.
Hayes is the tenth full-time manager in USWNT history and the second to come from England. The other was Jill Ellis, who won back-to-back World Cups in 2015 and 2019.
She takes over after US Soccer parted ways with Vlatko Andonovski, who coached the USWNT to their worst-ever World Cup finish last summer.