When Amandine Miquel, the Leicester City boss, mingled with the English media for the first time last summer, she was quick to point out one of the positives of being in the Foxes’ job rather than the Chelsea one, which her friend and fellow Frenchwoman, Sonia Bompastor, had just secured. “[Last season’s] 10th position [finish] in the league was ideal, because you can mostly only go up. Not too much pressure! Compared to my friend from Chelsea,” she explained, tongue-in-cheek. “I called her and asked, ‘Are you sure you don’t want to switch?’ Because it’s way riskier.”
Miquel was only aiming a light-hearted joke at Bompastor, but the fact remained that there was a lot of pressure on the new Chelsea boss – and not just because the Blues were on a run of five successive Women’s Super League titles. By taking up the role, Bompastor was succeeding Emma Hayes, who became an icon of the club, and in the sport, during a 12-year stint that saw her transform Chelsea's women’s team into an absolute powerhouse. The way Bompastor has taken to the challenge, though, delivering another WSL title on Wednesday after picking up her first silverware in the League Cup final in March, is evidence of how well she thrives under this sort of pressure.
“I don’t really agree with Amandine and that’s okay, as it’s probably not the first time,” Bompastor said with a laugh back in the summer, having been informed of Miquel’s teasing. “There is always room to improve, so this is my mindset. When you are first in the league you can always improve on being first with most points, most goals, most clean sheets. There are always ways to improve.”
Indeed, Bompastor has already put her name into the WSL record books with this triumph as it is the earliest in the competition's history. With the record for the most points still within their reach, as well as a first-ever unbeaten season in the 22-game era, there could be more reasons for her and Chelsea's 2024-25 side to cement their place in history after lifting an incredible sixth-successive title. Just how has she done it?
