Emma Hayes takes leave of absence from Chelsea.

The Chelsea manager Emma Hayes will enjoy a leave of absence from the club as she recovers from a serious operation.

She had an emergency hysterectomy last week as part of her treatment for endometriosis, a gynaecological condition in which tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other parts of the body, such as the fallopian tubes and the ovaries.

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In a statement, Hayes says that she needs time and patience to return to full health and has put no time period on her recovery.

In her absence, Denise Reddy and Paul Green, her assistants, will take charge of the club. They are due to play Everton in the WSL, and they begin their Champions League campaign next week with a tough-looking tie against PSG.

Chelsea are currently third in the WSL table, one of a clutch of teams level on six points, although they have played a game more than the two teams currently above them, Arsenal and Chelsea.
The defending champions started the season with a surprising loss to newly promoted Liverpool, but they have since won at home against West Ham and Manchester City to get back on track.

Hayes, who is now 45 years old, began her coaching career in the US, first taking charge of the Long Island Lady Riders and then the women’s team at Iona College in New Rochelle.

Her first job in English football saw her serve as an assistant coach and academy director for Arsenal Ladies between 2006 and 2008 before she left to take up a managerial position with Chicago Red Stars.

She was sacked after a string of poor results, and then had several technical roles before returning to London, where she had a spell out of the game, working in the family business, a currency exchange, for a short while.

However, in the summer of 2012 when Matt Beard decided to join Liverpool, she interviewed for and got the vacant Chelsea job.

She has since gone on to become the most successful women’s manager in the history of the English game. She has won five WSL titles, four FA Cups, the League Cup twice, and also picked up the FA Community Shield in 2020.

In addition to being named WSL Manager of the Season five times, she was named FIFA’s best women’s coach in 2021.

She has also been awarded both an MBE and an OBE for services to football and has been inducted into the WSL Hall of Fame.

Although known for her positivity and passion, Hayes is also a tough person to play under and has created a no excuses culture at the club, with every player and coach, including herself, asked to be honest about their own performance, with no room for excuses. After every game, win, lose, or draw, everybody is expected to sit down and analyse what they could have done better.

In her absence, she is expecting the team to maintain the high standards that she has helped set. The members of the squad should be under no illusion – she will be watching them closely to see how they perform.