Chapman and Flaherty with Chelsea boss Hayes (centre) at Stamford Bridge. Photo: Catherine Etoe

Published: 16 January, 2014
by CATHERINE ETOE

FORMER Arsenal Ladies assistant manager Emma Hayes has pulled off a transfer coup after bagging Gunners’ midfielder Katie Chapman and defender Gilly Flaherty for the Blues.

Chelsea manager Hayes, 37, signed the Arsenal duo on professional terms that will see both train on a daily basis at Cobham, with access to the gym and extra conditioning sessions.

The pair are the latest in a raft of departures from the most successful club in the country, with Arsenal also losing playmaker Kim Little to Seattle Reign, strikers Gemma Davison and Ellen White to Liverpool and Notts County respectively, and defender Steph Houghton to Manchester City in the close season.

However the Gunners have been active in the transfer market ahead of what is expected to be the most competitive season in the élite side of the women’s game to date.

Ex-Arsenal defender Casey Stoney has returned to the club, with manager Shelley Kerr also signing keeper Siobhan Chamberlain from Bristol Academy and Holland defender Anouk Hoogendijk from Ajax.

Other overseas signings are rumoured to be in the offing.

But right now, Arsenal fans will be smarting at the loss of Chapman and Flaherty who were both part of the unprecedented quadruple winning season of 2007.

At their unveiling at Stamford Bridge both players spoke of their sadness at leaving Arsenal but said the lure of professionalism was too great.

“It’s a new challenge for us and a new career for me because I won’t have to work the three or four jobs that I was working before,” said 22-year-old Flaherty.

“I can solely focus on football and hopefully that will push my game on even further.”

Mother-of-three Chapman, 31, added that she could not thank Arsenal general manager Vic Akers enough for his support over the years but she also hoped to benefit from daytime training.

“It makes it easier for me dealing with my family and I can be more professional as a player and I think that turned my head to Chelsea,” she said.

“I just felt that this opportunity was too good to miss – to be a more professional player which at the moment Arsenal are not offering – so for me it was a step forward.”

Parliament School old girl Hayes, who has managed professionally in the US and was Akers’ assistant during that quadruple season, hopes that the two players will help her Chelsea side move forward in the FA Women’s Super League when it resumes in April.

“There is no doubt we’ve signed two of the best players in the country,” Hayes said. “They are winners first and foremost, and I think that was something that was lacking in our dressing room.

“We wanted the top English players and it’s taken us a little longer to attract that calibre of player to the club.

“We are in the position now with a lot of our infrastructure in place where it’s more appealing for those players to join us.”