Hayes leaves on high having transformed women's game

A fairytale fifth Women's Super League title in a row leaves the departing Chelsea boss with not 'another drop to give'

- JAMIE BRAIDWOOD

At the end, there was only relief that the journey was over. Emma Hayes and Chelsea were champions for the final time; the "best title" of all, the toughest and the sweetest, sealed with the fairytale finish at Old Trafford. There was only one regret: missing her glass of wine with Sir Alex Ferguson, who had waited for Hayes while she celebrated a fifth Women’s Super League title in a row. A phone call had to do, from one managerial great to another.

After all, there are only a handful of figures who could relate to the emotions Hayes was experiencing. The 47-year-old had also spoken to Jurgen Klopp in the week in which two eras were ending, her 12 years at Chelsea and his nine at Liverpool. Between Hayes, Klopp, Ferguson and Pep Guardiola, who revealed his own fatigue after leading City to a sixth Premier League title in eight seasons, there are very few who can understand the toll management takes.

And Hayes was done, truly. “I don’t have another drop to give it,” she said, drained and exhausted in her final press conference in English football, which brought a certain relief of its own. It is often at the end of the campaign that Hayes is at her most open and honest. At the last, with a “champions” cap covering her eyes, a cracking voice revealing tears had been shed, a bottle of Singha beer in front of her, Hayes was fascinating in discussing the demands of her job and the legacy one of the most successful managers in English football history leaves behind.