Insider Sport’s Matchday Programme offers a personal look at what sporting moments and figures have inspired industry stakeholders. Through candid reflections, the programme delves into the stories behind the inspirations that have shaped their perspectives and fuelled their passion for sports.
In this edition, Yvonne Harrison, CEO of Women in Football, reflects on the leadership of Emma Hayes. From guiding Chelsea to domestic dominance to taking charge of the USA women’s national team, Harrison admires Hayes’ ability to lead with adaptability, emotional intelligence and courage.
Which athlete do you think demonstrated the best winning mentality throughout their career?
An athlete that I admire in this regard would be Gary Neville, somebody that I have the privilege of knowing and calling a friend. When you look at how he performed throughout his career and particularly understand what sits behind that, that winning mentality has flowed not only in his athletic career, but beyond that in terms of his business interests. I think one of the things that stands out for me in that regard is just his work ethic, absolute focus, and discipline to be the best.
He wasn’t the most talented of the team, as Gary would say to himself. He played with people with greater talent than him. But he made up for that in every other aspect. Whether that was his ability to influence others, whether it was about setting the culture and tone, or whether that was planning and prepping for the years ahead and his non-footballing career.
To all of that, he applies that winning mentality, and that is hugely inspiring.
Who was your childhood sports hero and why? Which of their sporting achievements had the biggest impact on you?
I think my childhood sports hero would be Sally Gunnell, and the standout moment for me would have been 1992, as she won Olympic gold. I remember vividly her crossing the line and her hands up in the air.
She ran in the Olympics, World and European championships and the Commonwealth Games and won gold and held all those titles at the same time.
For me, the determination and the grit to be able to prepare for, and achieve all of that, was insane. I also really liked her personality. She was always very bubbly yet so focused. For me, she represented everything about Team GB. She was incredible.
What sports team do you follow the closest? Is this a family team or local side etc, and what has been the biggest moment in your history of supporting this club?
The team I follow the closest is Liverpool FC’s men’s team. As a Mancunian, a strange thing to do, but my dad supported Liverpool, and my granddad supported Liverpool too. When my parents had their second child, which was me, my dad was keen to have a boy. He got another girl, and so I became a Liverpool fan!
It was a challenge growing up in Manchester. Very character forming, I would say, and quite painful. United were dominating, certainly in my teenage years, so it wasn’t much fun to be a Liverpool fan, except, in 2005, when Liverpool won the Champions League against AC Milan in Istanbul. It’s something I will never forget, and I remember it so clearly.
My parents were on holiday and my best friend had come round to watch the match. My mom had bought a bottle of Champagne, and it was in the fridge. I decided I would open it before the match had finished to drown our sorrows. But it was an epic comeback.
My husband worked in a printers at the time, printing t-shirts, and he was hoping that Liverpool wouldn’t win. Firstly, he is a United fan. Secondly, if Liverpool won, it meant he was going to have a very late night printing shirts! Lee had to work into the early hours, but I had a lovely night, celebrating that comeback of all comebacks.
Is there a team manager from any sport, whether that be football, rugby, NFL, NBA etc, who you think demonstrated the best leadership qualities?
Emma Hayes came on my radar as I took on the role of CEO of Women in Football. I started to get a deeper understanding of the women’s game, and I could see the incredible success that Chelsea was having under Emma’s stewardship.
I got to meet Emma a couple of times and was just blown away by her approach, her mentality, and her ability to lead. Both in a very visible way, but also her ability to lead by understanding the people around her, the people she was effectively leading within the squad to create a successful team dynamic.
One of my absolute career highlights would be at the recent Women in Football ‘Be Inspired Conference’ where I got to interview Emma Hayes on-stage at Wembley Stadium in a fireside chat. She illustrated how you can take a leadership style and approach and apply it in different settings. She moved after a prolonged period at Chelsea, to the USA women’s national team, with a short run into a major event and won the Olympic gold medal in Paris.
It’s quite remarkable how she’s really tuned into understanding different environments and the potential of that environment. Working with and listening to the players, she’s really applying this female lens to the women’s game and challenging the norms.
She’s somebody I continue to learn from. I watch in admiration and think she exemplifies what great leaders are. That is adaptable, agile, intuitive, emotionally intelligent, bold and brave. She is absolutely incredible.
What sports tournament do you think consistently provides the biggest thrills? Which moment from this league stood out to you the most in recent memory?
I’m really torn because I love a big tournament or event. There are two answers for me. One typically would be the Olympics and Paralympics, as I love the variety in those events, and I love hearing about the stories of the athletes.
If I put my day job hat on, and for ‘pinch me’ moments, the Women’s Euros in England was just incredible to be a part of.
To see the hype around the country, to listen to colleagues at the Football Association (FA) talk about the legacy planning that had been in place for years and years before the event, and then to see it play out so brilliantly. The crowds were amazing and the performances from the Lionesses were out of this world.
I was so privileged to go to many of the games and to be at that final. Wembley Stadium: sold out. The atmosphere was electric, and in the aftermath of England winning, the players really used their positions in the media to rally for change and to lobby the government around equal access to football for girls. The effect that it had on young girls watching that thinking ‘I can actually be the next Chloe Kelly or Leah Williamson,’ was brilliant.
Being at that final, sharing that moment with people from the FA and seeing their emotion, you just felt so privileged to be there. I will never forget that.
If you could travel back in time to any historic sporting moment to watch it then and now, which would it be and why?
I’ve really struggled to pin this down, so I’ve got two. I’m sorry, I can’t stick to the rules on this one.
The first would be the 1995 Rugby World Cup. The historical significance politically and culturally at that time in South Africa was immense. People will talk forever of when Nelson Mandela went onto the pitch and presented the trophy to the captain, signifying, I guess, a moment of national unity. That perfectly encapsulates the phrase of how sport has the power to change lives.
It does, and I imagine being there at that moment would have been incredibly special.
On a more personal level, a more recent example would be going back to the London 2012 Olympics to Super Saturday.
I remember sitting at home with my family. We’d done a little Olympic tea party with the kids; we were tuned in, and it just became an epic night. Jess Ennis Hill winning gold, Greg Rutherford winning gold, Mo Farah winning gold. I think it was all within about an hour.
That event was happening in England, and I would love to relive that. To be in the stadium to soak up the atmosphere and to celebrate with that crowd.
If you could go out for dinner with any sporting figure, current or historical, who would it be and what would you want to learn from them?
This was a really tough one. But if I had to choose just one person, I would really enjoy having dinner with Serena Williams.
She is an incredible athlete and has had so much success. I’d be keen to learn from her and explore the mental toughness, mindset, and resilience that she’s had to show throughout her career.
How has she handled those moments of pressure and pushed through the doubts, got over setbacks and stayed motivated for such a lengthy period of time? What did it take to develop that discipline? I’d be interested to hear when things got tough, what her approach has been in terms of managing that. Whether that is on or off the court.
I’m also fascinated by how she balanced her success with being a role model; a female role model; a Black female role model and a mother.
Beyond her sporting successes, she’s now investing in projects as an entrepreneur. I’d love to know what she wants to be known for in future. How does she see her role in evolving women’s sport and women in sport? How can we utilise player power and profile to keep driving women’s sport forward?
It would also be cool to understand if she had any rituals as a player. Is she superstitious about anything? What things annoy her? How does she like to spend her time these days? I’d be very nosy!
To read the last edition of the Matchday Programme, Harry Croft, CEO and Co-Founder of DEFY, reflects on Brian Clough’s exceptional leadership, click HERE.
