Why are there so few female coaches in English football? Chelsea boss Emma Hayes on “closing the gap”

There’s no doubt that the growth of women’s football in England has boomed over the past ten years.

From record-breaking attendances and world class signings to international silverware and higher profiles, women’s football in England is doing all it can to make up for the 50 year ban that stunted its growth.

What hasn’t caught up, however, is the lack of female coaches involved in the game. Be it women’s, men’s or grassroots, there is a startling small number of women within coaching positions at football clubs across the country.

One key figure that continues to highlight the disparity is Chelsea boss Emma Hayes.

Now in her final season with Chelsea, following the announcement that she will become USWNT manager from summer 2024, Hayes is gunning for the ideal send off: a seventh record Women's Super League title, the FA Cup, the league cup and that all-important, inaugural Champions League trophy.

But amongst her final few months as Blues boss, Hayes is continuing to shout about the lack of women in the position she finds herself in today.

In an exclusive interview with the BBC’s Dan Roan, Hayes highlighted the plethora of issues that keep women from making progress within the coaching profession.

From barrier to entry to club support, Olympics.com looks into why there are so few female coaches in English football right now.

Female coaches in England: The current state of play

As of January 2024, only one third of coaches managing in England’s highest female division, the Women’s Super League (WSL), are women. Chelsea’s Emma Hayes, Aston Villa’s Carla Ward, West Ham’s Rehanne Skinner and Bristol City’s Lauren Smith make up the female managers working in the league.

The Women’s Championship, one tier below the WSL, has a more balanced split as 50% of the managers are female, but when we look at England as a whole, only 21 women across the country hold a UEFA Pro Licence - Hayes being one of them.

Although Hayes’ only expressed concerns surrounding coaching in England, it seems a similar state of play over in North America’s highest female division.

The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) has seen the addition of two new expansion clubs, Utah Royals and Bay FC, which now means that the league features fourteen clubs.

Currently, only five of those clubs have a female head coach.

Female coaches in England: The challenges

Speaking to the BBC, Chelsea boss Emma Hayes highlighted several challenges that women face when trying to build a career in coaching.

The first being that cost and financial issues prove to be a huge barrier to entry for female coaches. With such a disparity between the wage system in men’s and women’s football, female coaches are less likely to be afford to undertake coaching badges and licenses and, therefore, cannot move up the coaching ladder.

"It's about £10,000 to do a Pro Licence. And the wages in the women's game are insignificant compared to the men's game. We have to commit more money to coaches, not just in the women's game, but women coaches in general,” Hayes called attention to.

Hayes spoke about the need for more education for players within the English women’s football system, to help support and encourage the next generation of coaches.

"We have to think about educating players much earlier on in their careers, maybe even during international breaks where there's more downtime,” she said. “And most importantly, support so that they can go through the coach education”.

The FA reported in December 2023 that there was an 83% increase in the number of female coaches with Level 1 qualifications and above over the past twenty four months. What is important now, however, is that those new coaches are supported enough - financially and educationally - to further their career.

Female coaches in England: How to move forward

The Chelsea boss’ first piece of advice was for the game to “come up with more creative ways" to address the issue. 

Despite women’s football gaining momentum over the past few years, Hayes’ reaffirms that there is still “a lot of work to do to close the gap” given the fact that “opportunities are few and far between.”

The lack of opportunity for women in football in England derives from the lack of industry-wide standards. The future UWSNT manager recognises that implementing said standards is easier said than done - across both men’s and women’s football in the country. However, perhaps it is the necessary next step in ensuring a level playing field for the future of the game.

"It's about creating minimum standards so that the accessibility for women to come into the game is thought about differently… getting clubs to be in position so that they have minimum standards in place to hire women into the game, be it assistant or head coach level. But doing that is a challenge,” she told the BBC.

Emma Hayes and the future of female coaches in England

Emma Hayes will undoubtedly leave women’s football in England in a better state than what she found it, when she crosses the pond to join USWNT this summer.

Whilst breaking records with Chelsea, the 47 year-old has continuously pushed narratives to help create a more level playing field for women in football. As the Women’s Super League’s most decorated coach, a regular pundit for on nationwide television, and an all-round respected figure within the game, Hayes knows that her voice carries weight. She silently undertook the responsibility to spearhead the sustainable growth of the women’s game a long time ago, and has been fighting ever since. 

There is no doubt that her fight will continue once she joins the US Women’s National Team. In a move that will see her become the best-paid female coach in the world, her power to truly influence change can only grow stronger and reach further.