Emma Hayes knew something was not right. The Chelsea manager had learned to cope but she could not hide her pain any longer. Her body had stopped fighting.
As she stood in the tunnel at Prenton Park ahead of her team’s first game of last season against Liverpool, Hayes confessed to opposite number Matt Beard: ‘I don’t want to go out there.’
Beard organised for a bed to be put in a private room so Hayes could rest. Somehow, she found the strength to manage her team through that match.
In her own words, Hayes, 46, spent the entire second half knowing Chelsea needed a goal but doing nothing about it.