Matt Beard inducted into BWSL Hall of Fame

Matt Beard will be inducted posthumously following his passing in September 2025.

A name synonymous with the league and women’s game.

Beard’s association with women’s football in England spanned almost two decades, with the majority of his managerial career taking centre stage in the top flight.

Following coaching spells in non-league and a stint at Millwall, he held the reins at Chelsea from 2009 through to 2012 and cemented his name in the history books in April 2011 as he managed the Blues against Arsenal in the Barclays WSL’s first ever fixture under its current guise.

Moving to Liverpool a year later, this would prove to be a masterstroke as Beard led the Reds to back-to-back WSL titles in 2013 and 2014, earning the accolade of Manager of the Season for the former.

Leaving England and spending a year in the States with Boston Breakers between 2016 and 2017, he returned home in 2018 and joined West Ham United, leading the Hammers to the FA Cup Final at the end of his first season there.

In 2021, he returned to the club where he previously enjoyed league title success in Liverpool and immediately took them back to the Barclays WSL as champions of the second tier.

Leading the Reds to seventh (2022-23) and fourth (2023-24) place finishes in the top flight, yet more success in the league was recognised as he was named Barclays WSL Manager of the Season once again.

Departing the Merseyside outfit and bringing the curtain down on his time in the Barclays WSL a year later, his place in the hearts of all associated with the women’s game was well and truly cemented.

Matt Beard’s name will be forever associated with the Barclays Women’s Super League, with his legacy living on in the many colleagues, players, staff and supporters who knew and loved him.