Emma Hayes beaten! New USWNT boss pipped to Manager of the Season award despite Chelsea's WSL triumph as Liverpool's Matt Beard gets well-deserved recognition

Beard did a fantastic job on Merseyside this past year to help the Reds secure wins over Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United on their way to a fourth-placed finish. Liverpool only returned to the top-flight last season, avoiding relegation with a solid finish of seventh, and Beard’s savvy transfer business and ability to put together strong game plans helped them really kick on in 2023-24.

Such success saw the Reds boss pip the two managers who went into the final day battling for the title to this award, in Chelsea’s Hayes and Manchester City’s Gareth Taylor. Hayes’ Blues did a fantastic job to pull through and claim a fifth successive title after some injuries and several setbacks, sending the new United States women’s national team coach out on a high.

Taylor will be disappointed that he and the Cityzens didn’t get over the line, having been in pole position, but he did a great job to put them in the conversation after being somewhat out of the race in the last two seasons.

Upon receiving his award, Beard said: "We're delighted with the season. These awards are humbling and I'm very, very grateful to everyone that voted. It's not just about me, it's about the team too. They have to go out and perform and the staff work relentlessly behind the scenes to help support everything that we do as well.

"It's about the collective and that's the staff and the players. Everyone deserves recognition for that. I think you can see from the team performances of late it's a lot of the work that we've done and the players have done. You can start to see the understanding of it on a more consistent basis. I've said this a few times this year, but it's exciting to see where this team can go."

Liverpool's fourth-placed finish equalled their best in the WSL since they won back-to-back titles under beard in 2013 and 2014.

Beard and Taylor will already be looking ahead to next season at Liverpool and Man City respectively, and how they can improve their teams for the new campaign. Hayes' next steps are a little different though, with her to take charge of the USWNT for the first time on June 1 as she looks ahead to the Olympic Games.