Sonia Bompastor pays tribute to Matt Beard before Chelsea’s clash with West Ham United

📸 Chelsea Football Club

Chelsea boss, Sonia Bompastor previewed her side's game against West Ham United at the weekend in front of the media on Thursday afternoon.

Last week, the Women’s game was rocked by the passing of Matt Beard, a true trailblazer and icon in transforming Women’s Football in England to what we see now. Chelsea’s manager, as ever supplied class when speaking about the former Chelsea manager, who had such a wide impact on not only Chelsea, but the game as a whole. 

“Everyone is heartbroken from the news and for the loss of Matt Beard. I didn’t have to wait for the sad news to know who he was and what he did for the club. I had some really good conversations with Paul Green when I joined the club and I know that he did a wonderful job here in Chelsea. He was part of the foundation and the base, he helped the club to build the team today, a lot of people here in the club were connected to him and his family, all our thoughts remain with his family.” 

In more positive news, the Ballon d’Or ceremony was held in Paris this week, with it being the first time several Women’s and Men’s awards were able to be hganded out at the same time, with the awards previously often taking place during an international window in the Women’s game. Bompastor, who attended the ceremony with her son, spoke about how her, and he enjoyed the night! 

“It was the first time they celebrated the men’s and the women’s at the same level I think. What I am most proud of is going with my son to the ceremony and he was asking for pictures with the Women’s players and the Men’s player with the same consideration. For me it’s unbelievable, he was just as keen on having the picture with Hannah and her award as Ousmane Dembele and his award. It was really special.” 

At the ceremony in France, Blues shot stopper Hannah Hampton won the first ever Women’s Yachine Trophy, given to the greatest Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year, following her quite incredible treble winning season for club and European Championship winning summer for her country. 

“Her speech was incredible. Really proud of Hannah. She is really mature out on the pitch, she is the best goalkeeper in the world right now and she plays for Chelsea, which is a massive moment for the club, to represent the club so well, it was a great moment for Hannah.” 

Also at the ceremony, Bompastor herself was in the running for an award, but lost out on Coach of the Year to Lionesses’ Sarina Weigman, who won England's second UEFA European Championship title. 

“I think I need Sarina to retire! No, I am not looking for individual awards, i am more of a team person and I said that to her (Weigman) so I am comfortable saying that now! The individual recognition is something you get when you win titles and the most important thing for me is the team and the organisation.”

Finally, the thoughts of the next game are never far away from the Chelsea boss, with West Ham United next on their agenda as the Blues look to keep their perfect start to the season going against Rehanne Skinners side, who haven’t had the best of starts to the campaign. 

“In terms of resources, not the place they want to be but when you look at their squad, look at the way they want to play and what they want to achieve, they have a lot of quality, they played and won in the league cup, scoring a lot of goals. Their starting eleven in the last games have quality and players to cause us trouble so we will be approaching as usual, with finding the balance in the strengths and qualities we have in our squad, whilst also paying attention to what they have.”