“I just feel gutted for you guys that have come out, I promise I’ll buy you all a hot dog at the next game.”
Emma Hayes’ words to a packed Kingsmeadow were met with a mixture of laughs, cheers and eventually applause, all just minutes after Chelsea ’s WSL game with Liverpool was abandoned due to a frozen pitch. The Blues manager is one of the most popular figures in the game and has the charisma, charm and emotional intelligence to diffuse any tension.
But Sunday’s entirely avoidable situation wasn’t fair on Hayes or the 3,000-plus crowd who were hoping to see the biggest game of the weekend in the women’s top flight. Hayes showed her class on the mic, but sitting inside a freezing Kingsmeadow you couldn’t help but feel the whole thing was anything but a total shambles.
