A year after Emma Hayes had taken over at Chelsea, she sat in the stand at Stamford Bridge alongside then chairman Bruce Buck as they watched the 2013 Champions League final between Lyon and Wolfsburg.
‘That will be us one day,’ said Hayes. ‘So give me time.’
Those were the days when Chelsea played their home games at Wheatsheaf Park in Staines, where Hayes once had to help clear the water off the pitch.
On Saturday evening she will be in the Stamford Bridge dugout for the last time, aiming to take Chelsea to only a second European final at the expense of reigning champions Barcelona.
‘There’s a full circle moment within that,’ Hayes tells Mail Sport, reflecting on that conversation with Buck nine years ago.
‘As Denise (Reddy, her assistant manager) says, this isn’t our first rodeo. We have to focus on the processes that have put us in the best position possible. We are here to compete.’
Barcelona beat Hayes’ Chelsea 4-0 in the 2021 final and knocked them out in the semi-finals last season. But the Catalans come to London bruised after Chelsea inflicted a first home defeat on them in five years in the first leg.
Hayes will depart for the US national team at the end of the season and Saturday will be her final game at Stamford Bridge.
Her first, in 2016, was also in this competition. A crowd of just under 4,000 watched as Chelsea were beaten 3-0 by Wolfsburg. It is likely today will be sold out.
‘It shows you how long it takes on and off the pitch to close that gap,’ says Hayes. ‘There was a gulf between us and Wolfsburg on the pitch. Off the pitch, 4,000 felt a good number.
‘Maybe it’s taken us a little bit too long to get to a sell-out, but there’s a process and it’s taken us some learnings.
‘On the pitch, you have to be there enough for it to feel like your home. It might on some level have become more of our home this year than Kingsmeadow, especially in the Champions League.
‘Getting that feeling right, those rituals right, those habits right, that takes a little time. So going out there in a sold-out stadium is a culmination of years of work, a collaborative collection of people who have put bums on seats and a team that has grown to enjoy and experience Stamford Bridge as their home.’
Last week’s 1-0 victory over Barcelona came after a difficult few weeks. Chelsea had lost the League Cup final to Arsenal and been knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester United, and Hayes faced criticism for comments about Gunners manager Jonas Eidevall and her bizarre decision to read out a poem in a press conference.
But Chelsea have made a habit of responding to setbacks. Few, though, expected them to beat Barca last week. Perhaps they are at their most dangerous when people doubt them?
‘That’s a good question and I don’t think I know the answer,’ says Hayes. ‘I think we go into every game to win. When we’ve had setbacks during my time here, we’ve bounced back quite quickly and I think it’s that more than it is being considered underdogs. Of course we’re the underdogs, because they’re the champions of Europe. But I think we are extremely resilient.’
The Champions League is the only trophy Hayes has not won at Chelsea, but she is keen to deflect any attention away from herself.
‘What I’ve learned about competing is that you have to contain your emotion, you have to manage that,’ Hayes added.
‘It’s not that you don’t experience it. We just need to stick to our task and prepare as we always do. These players are well prepared and they’re up for it.’