The late manager Matt Beard has been inducted into the Barclays Women’s Super League (WSL) Hall of Fame after passing away in September 2025.
- Hall of Fame Induction: Beard was inducted into the WSL Hall of Fame for his transformative, decade-long impact on English football.
- Liverpool’s Tactical Architect: He broke Arsenal’s dominance with back-to-back titles and later led Liverpool to a record-breaking 20-match unbeaten promotion.
- Professional Culture Builder: He established the foundational standards at Chelsea and led a brand-new West Ham squad to a Wembley final.
What is the WSL Hall of Fame?
The Barclays Women’s Super League (WSL) Hall of Fame is the highest individual honour in English women’s football. The aim is to highlight individuals who have made outstanding contributions in women’s football in the top flight.
The inductees are decided by a panel of former players, journalists, and key figures in the game. To be considered, a person must have a proven track record of excellence (typically spanning at least a decade) and a legacy that has fundamentally changed the landscape of the sport.
Rebuilding Liverpool
Matt Beard is most known for his management of Liverpool Women. He took over a Liverpool side in 2012 that had finished bottom of the league and completely overhauled it. He ended up leading them to back-to-back WSL titles in 2013 and 2014. Breaking the era of Arsenal’s dominance, helping to bring in a more competitive, professionalised league.
During his second stint, he was brought in at the start of the 21/22 season, after they had been relegated. He was able to manage them to a record-breaking season. They went on a 19-match unbeaten run, which became the longest such streak in the history of the FA Women’s Championship. They won the league, getting promoted back to the top flight.
In an interview with Liverpool FC, “It’s not easy to go 19 games unbeaten in any level of football without putting the hard work in that we have done. If you work hard and you’ve got a good atmosphere and respect amongst each other, then these are the things you can achieve.”
In the 2023–24 season, he led the newly promoted side to a 4th-place finish in the WSL and was named WSL Manager of the Season for the second time. This was a huge statement in the league breaking the typical top 4 in the league. They ended the season with 41 points, their highest points tally in a 22-game WSL season.
Laying the Foundations at Chelsea
Beard was named the first-team manager of Chelsea Women for the 2009–10 season. He was also their first manager when the league went from the Women’s Premier League to the WSL. Setting Chelsea’s high standards that have stayed strong for 25 years on.
He managed notable players like Casey Stoney, Drew Spence, Gemma Bonner, Carly Telford and others.
So when Matt Beard left for Liverpool in July 2012, he didn’t just leave a list of names; he left a professional culture.
Leading West Ham to Wembley
Taking a brand-new professional team to a major cup final in their very first season is nearly unheard of. Beard did exactly that with West Ham in the 2018–19 FA Cup. In the summer of 2018, he gained the license for West Ham to join the WSL. He built a squad from scratch almost instantly bringing in a mix of veterans and new talent.
It paid off, making it to an FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium in their first season. It wasn’t the result they wanted, loosing 3-0 to a world-class Manchester City side. There’s a documentary on this season, showing him as a calm, father-like figure who managed to mould a group of strangers into a team capable of reaching Wembley Stadium.
Gilly Flaherty speaking with Sky Sports, “Matt just has this way of making you feel like you can beat anyone. He built a family here in months. Standing in that tunnel at Wembley, we weren’t just a team; we were his team.”
Who is he joined by?
Joining him today is Casey Stoney MBE and Kerys Harrop.
Stoney spent nearly two decades at the top of the English league, playing for almost every major club. The defender retired in 2018 with a case full of silverwere winning two league titles, four FA Cups, five League Cups and three Community Shields. But couldn’t stay away from the game, becoming the first ever manager for Manchester United women and now going on to an international career.
Kerys Harrop made 183 appearances across her 12 years in the WSL. She was a one-club legend at Birmingham City for 9 years before moving to Tottenham Hotspur in 2020. She played the entirety of her career at the very top of the Women’s game before retiring in 2023.
Other notable inductees include Steph Houghton, Alex Scott, Jill Scott, Ellen White, Emma Hayes, and many many more.
