Sonia Bompastor, the first woman to win the Women’s Champions League as a player and manager, both with Lyon, has been appointed as the new head coach of Chelsea on a four-year contract.
The club also announced that Chelsea Women would become a standalone entity, no longer sitting beneath the men’s team but alongside it.
Bompastor’s arrival comes after she guided Lyon to this season’s Champions League final, where the eight-time winners lost 2-0 to Barcelona on Saturday– their first loss against the Catalan club. The French manager was regarded as the standout candidate among a shortlist of four put together by Chelsea’s general manager, Paul Green, as part of a recruitment process led by Green and the sporting directors. The departing manager, Emma Hayes, was consulted during the process.
The fact that Lyon and Chelsea had important games to the end of the season means there has been no handover process with Hayes, who spent 12 years at Chelsea and has taken the head coach job with the US women’s national team.
“I hope to live up to Emma’s legacy and continue the work that has been done in recent years,” Bompastor said. “Let the adventure begin.” Bompastor arrives with transfer recruitment well underway because Chelsea often operates a window or two ahead, but it is understood the club will slot her into that system and look into any requests she has for this summer.
As a player, Bompastor won eight French League titles, four Coupes de France féminine and two Champions League titles. As a manager with Lyon, she secured three back-to-back league titles, one Coupe de France and the 2022 Champions League.
Bompastor, a left-sided midfielder sometimes used at left-back, ended her playing career in 2013 at Lyon, where she had two spells. She also played for Montpellier, Washington Freedom and on loan at Paris Saint-Germain.
