Chelsea FC Appoints Sonia Bompastor As New Women Head Coach

Chelsea Football Club has appointed Sonia Bompastor as the women’s team’s head coach, effective in the 2024/25 season.

Bompastor, who previously managed Lyon in France for three seasons, will begin her tenure on July 1, 2024, under a four-year contract.

Bompastor will replace Emma Hayes, who concluded her nearly 12-year tenure with the Blues at the end of the 2023/24 season.

Hayes’ departure marks the end of a significant era for Chelsea, during which she established herself as one of the club’s most successful coaches.

Chelsea’s general manager, Paul Green, commented on the rigorous selection process for Hayes’ successor.

“The sporting directors and I conducted a thorough and considered recruitment process to identify Emma’s successor. Sonia’s vision, coaching philosophy, and winning mentality made her the outstanding candidate. She is a world-class coach with a proven track record of success on the biggest stages that will instantly command respect from the dressing room.”

Chelsea’s co-sporting directors, Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, echoed Green’s sentiments, emphasising Bompastor’s suitability for the role.

Expressing her enthusiasm, Bompastor said, “I am incredibly grateful to join Chelsea Football Club as the head coach of the women’s team. It is an institution in English football. I will give my all to this new project to meet the ambitions of the club, the staff, and the players. I hope to live up to Emma’s legacy and continue the work done in recent years. Let the adventure begin.”

Bompastor, 43, enjoyed a distinguished playing career, earning 156 caps for the French national team before retiring in 2013 to join Lyon’s Academy as a coach.

She became Lyon’s first team head coach in April 2021, achieving remarkable success, including winning the Division 1 Feminine title for three consecutive seasons.

She also led Lyon to a league and European double in her first full season, becoming the first person to win the UEFA Women’s Champions League as both a player and a head coach.

Her assistants Camille Abily and Theo Rivrin will join Bompastor at Chelsea.

Abily, who retired in 2018 after a stellar playing career with 323 appearances for Lyon and 183 national team caps for France, brings a wealth of experience to the coaching team.

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