Chelsea Women manager Emma Hayes is to depart the club at the end of the season, the Blues have announced.
The 47-year-old took charge of the Blues in 2012 and has overseen their transformation into the dominant force of women's football in England, winning 14 major honours at Kingsmeadow.
Hayes has led Chelsea to six Women's Super League titles, five FA Cups, three League Cups and one Community Shield, including a league and cup double in the 2022-23 season as well as a Champions League runners-up medal in 2021.
Chelsea have made a typically strong start to the 2023-24 WSL season with four wins and a draw from their opening five games of the season, including a 6-0 thrashing of Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon.
However, less than an hour after that six-goal demolition concluded, Chelsea revealed that Hayes would be handing the reins over to her successor once the season is done in order to pursue a new career path outside of WSL and club football.
Co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley paid tribute to Hayes's contribution to Chelsea and women's football as a whole in a statement, and they affirmed that they would "never" stand in the manager's way of taking up an exciting new opportunity.
"Emma has been one of the biggest drivers of change in women's football. Her achievements at Chelsea are unrivalled and will live in the club's history forever," Stewart and Winstanley told the Chelsea website.
Emma Hayes to depart Chelsea at the end of the season.
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) November 4, 2023
"Given everything she has contributed to Chelsea in over a decade with the club, and the legacy she leaves behind, we would never stand in her way when she felt it was the right time to pursue a new challenge.
"We are pleased that she will remain with the club for the remainder of the season to give us the time to identify her successor.
"There will be plenty of time to celebrate Emma's many achievements at the club and to give her the farewell she deserves, but for now, as she always has been, Emma will be solely focused on making this season as successful as possible for Chelsea.
Todd Boehly also expressed his gratitude to the "hugely respected" Hayes, saying: "Emma's contribution to Chelsea cannot be understated. She has been a pioneer in women's football and is hugely respected within the game. We look forward to continuing to work together over the coming months."
During her glittering 11-year spell at the Chelsea helm, Hayes has won 236 of her 333 contests in charge, as well as drawing 39 and losing 58 contests, collecting a host of individual accolades along the way.
A six-time WSL Manager of the Season - winning the prize in each of the last four campaigns - Hayes was also inducted into the Women's Super League Hall of Fame in 2021, the same year she was named The Best FIFA Women's Coach.
The 47-year-old was awarded an MBE in Queen Elizabeth II's 90th Birthday Honours in 2016 for services to football, before being presented with an OBE in the summer of 2022.
