In Emma Hayes’ 12 years in charge of Chelsea, she has seen it all. Seven times the FA Women's Super League champion, she was named the Best FIFA Football Coach in 2021, awarded FA WSL Manager of the Season in 2015, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023… and was even inducted into the Women's Super League Hall of Fame in 2021. But the one crown that’s eluded her, has been on the continent.
Call it a holy grail, call it a parting gift, call it whatever you like, when mere weeks remained on her era-defining tenure at the club, a Women’s Champions League semi-final date with Barcelona is about as big as they come. If you don’t believe that, ask any of the 39,000 people who attended the spectacle.
“It’s one club, at the end of the day”, Louise tells FourFourTwo. A life-long fan of the men’s team, born and raised in West London but now living in Margate, she’s travelled in with her fiance and fellow Chelsea fan Alex.
“We’ve had to be more selective this season with the cost of getting into London for the matches, but you can’t miss this one can you? We were in Portugal for the men’s Champions League final a few years ago and to see the women do the same thing just feels absolutely massive. I mean, look at everyone here. It’s huge for the club."
Alex, who until their move to the coast was a season-ticket holder at Stamford Bridge, agrees: “I think a lot of Chelsea fans have started to give the women’s team the respect they deserve over the last few years. The performances of the men’s team haven’t really been too much to get excited about, the last two years especially, and it’s really brought into focus just what a good job Hayes and the players are doing here. Like she says, it’s one club isn’t it? So when the big games come around we need to get out and support them."
And support them they have. The near-40,000 at Stamford Bridge follows on from the astounding 36,428 at the Estadio Olympic, who saw Chelsea dish out Barcelona Femenino’s first home defeat in 5 years.
Last year, when these two teams met at the same stage, they faced-off in the Camp Nou for a crowd of 72,262. Just one of a number of ground-breaking statistics in the 2022/23 Women’s Champions League, where a total of 648,028 fans turned out across the competition, and 5.6m watched games online.
“Absolutely heartbreaking”, is how Kayleigh describes Chelsea’s semi-final exit last season. “We had the whole family at Stamford Bridge last season for the Lyon game and you’ve never seen anything like the crowd for that equaliser. I think it must have been about 130 minutes or something crazy but we all went wild and you just left thinking it’s finally your year. But credit to Barcelona they’re probably the best side I’ve ever seen here and it was always going to be tough getting a result in Spain."
Another life-long fan of Chelsea, Kayleigh has been following the women’s team ever since the inaugural WSL match in 2011, where Chelsea fell to a narrow 0-1 defeat to Arsenal at their old Imperial Fields stadium. That afternoon, she was one of 2,500 who turned up to witness a major milestone in the history of English women’s football.
“Yeah it’s crazy to see how far it’s all come. I can’t remember why we decided to go down that day but I was shocked at how many people were there. We went again a few months later after that initial buzz had died down and there was only a couple of hundred which, after you’d seen so many at the first game, was another shock entirely. To get it from there to packing out Stamford Bridge is amazing.”
“My daughters aren’t here today but they’ve basically been born into it and seen it all grow up with them. One of them asked for the home kit for their birthday this year so we got it printed with ‘Palmer 20’ on the back, and she made us take it back and get ‘James 10’ instead. It’s in their blood now, and we’ve promised to take them to the final if… sorry, when… we do it today."
But football, regardless of who you support, is a cruel game. After a valiant defensive display from Emma Hayes’ side, a costly lapse of concentration allows Barcelona to level the tie on aggregate, before a second half red card put the visitors in an ascendency they never looked back from. No final trip to Spain’s Estadio de San Mamés for Kayleigh, and no fairy-tale ending for Emma Hayes.
As her squad - including the returning Millie Bright who arrived late off the bench to a frankly thunderous reception - sat slumped on the pitch, they didn’t yet know that this season will end with an improbable last-gasp run for another WSL title. In the cool breeze of this West London evening, it felt like the farewell tour for their manager is ending on a sour note, but those currently slinking out of the turnstiles and into the bars on Fulham Road are able to take a wider view.
Patrick and Ana are, fortuitously or otherwise, two flat-mates who support Chelsea and Barcelona respectively. Attending the London leg of this semi-final both this season and last, they’ve got a wider view on what the evening means for the home side.
“What she’s done for this club is incredible”, Patrick muses. “And I mean the club as a whole because when you see the money other teams are now putting into their women’s side it would have been really easy for us to get left behind the last few years. She’s kept us right up there and tonight shouldn’t be what people remember."
“This same match last year was actually my first time attending one of them. Living with a Barca fan we’d joked that we’d never get to play each other with Chelsea being out of Europe and she just comes in one day saying ‘right, your lot are playing my lot, no excuse not to go’ and it was brilliant to be fair. We’ve been to a few this season as well and they’re a joy to watch at times.”
“It’s funny actually, a load of us came to the Man United game back in January and were talking about the men’s team. Saying how ideally you’d want a manager there who’s had proven success but still gets the club and has ties here, but it’s just a shame nobody like that exists. Then out walks Emma Hayes from the dugout and you realise that’s exactly who she is. The amount I’ve learned about her and the rest of the team the past 12 months is incredible, you just hope the journey can continue like this without her."
A huge thanks to the team at Heineken for inviting us to Stamford Bridge for the game. This season, Heineken is redefining what it means to be a "hardcore fan”. To embody this definition we have developed the Real Hardcore Fan Club to share stories of fans that are challenging the status quo to make football more inclusive for all.
With much anticipation for the UWCL final happening in Bilbao on 25th May, Heineken is launching limited-edition UEFA-themed packaging and glassware to celebrate the brand’s support of both UCL and UWCL. It marks the first time Heineken has dedicated a bottle design to women’s football.
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