“I know it’s a cliché, but you can’t do the work without your team, and I’m blessed with the team that I’ve got,” said Matt Beard last year, after bagging the WSL Manager of the Month award. The words of the former Liverpool manager would make it clear that he and his team relied heavily on each other to keep walking the path called life, both on and off the soccer pitch. However, Beard’s road has come to an unexpected end.
Just hours ago, the soccer community was stunned to learn about the passing of the two-time WSL title-winning manager at the tender age of 47. While details of the heartbreaking incident continue to emerge, Beard’s colleagues are scurrying to find ways to cope with the bolt from the blue. Emma Hayes, the USWNT coach, who succeeded Matt as the Chelsea manager in 2012, took to Instagram to note her astonishment about the latter’s sudden demise.
While the soccer community joins hands to pay its respects to its fallen brethren, Beard’s son made an earnest appeal to those who need it the most. As per some reports, the Liverpool manager might have taken his own life, and this has given his family a harsh reality check on mental health. “s—— is never the answer reach out. call 111, or 999. please don’t take your own life, we all miss you dad,” Harry Beard wrote in an X post on Saturday.
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“Can’t quite compute this,” Hayes wrote in her Instagram story, “Absolutely one of the best humans.” Hayes’ incredible success with the Blues owes a lot to Beard, who laid the foundations in the three years before the current US national team manager arrived at the London club. Naturally, she was gutted by the news. And with that, old memories came rushing back.
“Always available for a chat, one of the good guys. A champion in the women’s game and a top bloke. So gutted for his family,” Emma wrote further in her IG update, underscoring how her interactions with Beard were a crucial part of her career and learning process. Matt guided Chelsea to their first-ever FA Cup final appearance in 2012, and Hayes believes his loss will leave a lasting impact. “Matt will leave a huge void in the women’s game. He was one of a kind, and his loss will be felt by all,” she said in a statement released through the League Managers Association.
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Along with Hayes, Liverpool, several WSL stars, and Beard’s former club, the Millwall Lionesses, all issued statements to note their devastated feelings. Not only did Matt lead the Reds to their incredible back-to-back WSL triumphs, but he was also instrumental in reinstating the team into the English top-flight upon returning as its boss in 2021. Goes without saying, folks over at Liverpool are feeling the loss deeper than most others. “Liverpool Football Club is deeply shocked and saddened by the sudden passing of former LFC Women manager Matt Beard,” the Reds wrote in an official statement.
A sad day for soccer fans, indeed. And yet, while we tend to our emotions, we shouldn’t forget that Beard has left us with countless fond memories over the years.
Matt Beard’s legacy will live on
Beard began his managerial career with Millwall, posting a 75% win rate over one season and guiding the team to the FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division title and promotion to the top-flight. Then, he headed to London to take over the reins at Chelsea upon the recommendation of Casey Stoney. With the Blues, Matt bagged more top-tier finishes at high-stakes tournaments before taking charge of Liverpool and then crossing the pond as the manager for the Boston Breakers.
Maybe his time in the US helped him understand how different things were in the hemisphere and how women’s soccer had tremendous scope to grow in the country. That’s why, when Emma Hayes was named the head coach of the USWNT in 2023, Beard couldn’t be happier. In an interview after her appointment, Hayes also revealed that she had received an emotional message from her peer.
Matt also spent time as the head coach of West Ham United Women, Bristol City Women (interim), and most recently, with Burnley. But it was his two spells with Liverpool that solidified his status as a brilliant soccer manager. As per some sources, Beard went to extreme lengths to work with the Reds. According to an X post, “Matt Beard sold his house and left his job as an estate agent and part-time coach for Chelsea to take the Liverpool job in 2013 on minimum wage.” That’s the kind of grit that makes legends.
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We hope that his soul finds peace as the soccer community grapples with the irreplaceable void he has left behind. What are your thoughts? Share as a comment.