Chelsea manager Emma Hayes will step away from football while she returns to full health following an emergency hysterectomy surgery last week.
Hayes released a statement in which she said she underwent the procedure last Tuesday due to her “ongoing battle with endometriosis”. Hayes, 45, added that she would need “time and patience to return to full health”.
Hayes said she is now in recovery but that assistant coach Denise Reddy and general manager Paul Green will take charge of the Women’s Super League champions while she is away from the touchline.
The five-time WSL manager of the season did not say when she would return but said in a message to Chelsea fans: “I know you’ll respect that my health comes first and at this time I’ve got to prioritise what I need to do for me.
“I fully expect to make a full recovery and I look forward to seeing you in the foreseeable future.”
The Chelsea manager received an OBE in June for services to football after taking the Blues to a new level of dominance last season. Hayes led Chelsea to their third WSL title in a row while also beating Manchester City at Wembley to retain the Women’s FA Cup.
Chelsea visit Everton in the WSL on Sunday before they open their Women’s Champions League campaign away to Paris Saint-Germain on Thursday, which starts a busy run of fixtures up until the conclusion of the Champions League group stages on December 22.
Her statement continued: ‘I just want to say thank you also to my amazing doctors, Dr Alex Laurence and Dr Sally Harris for their outstanding care. A huge thank you to our owners, the board and our HR director, Jo Stone, for the support they’ve shown and of course all of my family, staff and players.
‘We have built a tremendous team over many years and we’ve adopted a very multi-disciplinary approach so that if situations like this arise, we are capable of being able to respond to the challenge. We have full confidence in Paul, Denise and all of the staff.
‘We also know the team are very special and we have no doubt they’ll do everything to maintain their high standards.
‘To our fans, you’ve had to listen to me bellowing from the other side of the pitch every week but now I want to hear you even louder because I’ll be sitting at home watching the team on the television until my return.”
