Sonia Bompastor: The Chris Waddle fan who guided Chelsea to a treble in her first season

Telegraph

18-05-2025

There is a surprise in store for Sonia Bompastor as she sits down to speak to Telegraph Sport.
The France-born Chelsea manager grew up when the likes of Eric Cantona, Emmanuel Petit and David Ginola were the national heroes of her home country. But it was a Geordie with an unusual hairstyle who caught her eye. Bompastor revealed in her autobiography that Chris Waddle, who spent three years with Marseille, was her first idol.
So, with Bompastor having won a domestic treble in her first season at Chelsea, Telegraph Sport thought it fitting to arrange a video message from her childhood hero.
At first, she is taken aback. Then, after a few seconds, she smiles and points to her head: 'He changed his hair!'
Waddle, who was nicknamed 'Magic Chris' by Marseille fans, entertained on the pitch but also stood out because of his mullet hairstyle.
'At maybe eight or nine years old, I had the same haircut,' Bompastor says, before laughing. 'It was not a success for me. It looked really bad. But I really loved him and I was trying to do the same.
'Watching him on TV, for me he was a role model but I couldn't access him. To have these words from him means a lot to me. I have a bit of emotion now. He made me really enjoy watching football. He created a lot but he was always [playing] with a smile.
'I always say it's really important to enjoy every day what you are doing and I am lucky to have a job that is my passion. That is probably the best luck you can have in life.'
There has been nothing lucky about Bompastor's first season with Chelsea. Taking over from Emma Hayes, who had won 16 trophies over 12 years, was deemed one of the hardest jobs in football. Bompastor has made it look easy. On Sunday, she lifted the FA Cup to complete a treble which included an unbeaten season in the Women's Super League.
Bompastor is relaxed as she talks but this is a rarity, for players have described her as the most competitive person they have ever met.
'I think that comes from my childhood,' says Bompastor, whose father was a referee and who played football from an early age with her eldest brother. 'I had to fight just to play football. It was a really difficult time because people were telling me that, just because I was a girl, I wasn't allowed to play.
'It was really difficult but I think my personality started to grow because I really wanted to prove to people that they were wrong and that, if I wanted to play football, I could. Even if the mentality and the culture in France at that time was not ready to accept that.'
During her 13-year professional career, she won 14 trophies, most of which came at Lyon, and earned more than 150 caps for France. She then spent eight years as head of Lyon's academy before being named the club's first female manager in 2021, becoming the only person to win the Women's Champions League as both a player and a manager. In short, she is a serial winner.
'I hate to lose, I don't know why it's so strong,' Bompastor says. 'I can be really bad when I'm losing and I can lose my friendship with some people for one or two days just because I am losing something – a football game or even games at home sometimes, I get really mad.
'When I was a player it was really bad sometimes. I am trying to learn with more maturity but it's still difficult. I think my kids are really helping me in that way because you can't show them you get really, really mad when you lose something. They also need to learn that sometimes when you play against someone that is better than you, you need to accept that. That is something I don't know how to do.'
Bompastor pauses when asked about the angriest she has felt during her football career.
'When I was a player I stayed for maybe one or two days without eating,' she says. 'I couldn't eat because my stomach was so upset. I didn't even feel like I was hungry, I was 'hangry' mad, but not hangry to have food.
'Sometimes in training sessions I was getting almost in fights with some of my team-mates.' Bomapstor then clarifies: 'Not bad fights. But if they were next to me, I was pushing them.
'Sometimes I regret it because I just feel like it was intense and too much. But I couldn't control that. It was too difficult for me to manage that emotion when it was coming in the moment.
'I made progress as a manager. I think I still have that competitive edge but I need to deliver to my players in the right way and I think that's really important. When we talk about the winning mentality, ruthless mentality, it's about making sure we understand what can we accept and can we not drop off.'
Surprisingly, management is not something Bompastor was immediately attracted to when she retired. She has four children and wanted a job that allowed her to 'prioritise my family' and 'stay more at home', hence taking the academy role at Lyon.
'When the opportunity came for me to become the head coach in Lyon, I was still questioning whether I was the right person,' she says. 'My family and my wife, Camille, just told me, 'Why not? You are the right person, just go!' This is how it started.'
Bompastor first opened up about her relationship with Camille Abily, who is also her assistant manager, in February following the publication of her autobiography. Previously team-mates at Lyon and the French national team, they have been together for 13 years.
'I wrote that book just because I felt it was the right timing for my kids to know a little bit more about my story. I didn't want to mention anything about my private life because I think me and Camille, we are people who are really humble, not secretive, but really quiet. It's difficult for us to be exposed. I don't feel I need to talk about my private life.
'My life with Camille and my family are part of my life, I'm really proud of that and it was difficult to write the book without mentioning that, but I knew people would be almost only interested by that. I'm still not comfortable talking about it but if it can help people, that's really important. My main message on that point is: I want people to realise, especially in 2025, when you are different, you have to let people live the life they want to live.
'It's about the freedom you need to give to people – colour of skin, religion. I think in France, we are struggling a little bit with that. I think coming into London, maybe not everywhere in London is the same, but there are some parts where I feel people can live together with big differences and it's more accepted.'
Bompastor is not as well known in England as predecessor Hayes, but that is gradually starting to change. She tells the story of how a cyclist spotted her in her car when parked outside her house and knocked on the window to say: 'I'm a huge Chelsea fan, well done on your job.'
She also recalls people recognising her when she caught the train to watch England at Wembley, but being 'nice and respectful'. When I suggest people may be surprised to see her on the train, Bompastor laughs. 'I go in central London biking. When I tell people that they are like, 'You are the Chelsea manager!' and I go, 'Yeah, and? Can I not bike?'
'It's the easiest thing to bike everywhere in London, even with the kids. Sometimes people don't recognise me but because we have six people on the bikes and it's a long queue, they look at us and they go, 'Oh, it is the Chelsea manager! Look, Chelsea manager on a bike!'
'That's so funny! Life in London is really enjoyable. We made the right choice for our kids for them to have the opportunity to live in a city like London. We have settled in well, the club has been really supportive and we already feel part of a family here at Chelsea. But I know my job is to make sure we win games, because that's the way it is.'
Bompastor says her four children are her 'balance' but managing family life and football management is not easy. She is keen to make sure that both her staff and her family get her full attention when she is with them, albeit that on occasions she has to work when the children are in bed. 'Sometimes I have to work until midnight or one o'clock just to make sure this job is done, but not in a time where it can affect my family or my staff,' she says.
The narrative around Bompastor's appointment was that Chelsea had brought her in specifically to win the Champions League, the one trophy that alluded them during Hayes's reign. Chelsea suffered an 8-2 aggregate defeat in the semi-final against Barcelona, but Bompastor said after the game she knows what the club need to be better next season.
'I'm used to assuming pressure in my job. I don't take the pressure in a negative way. I think Chelsea has everything to be able to perform in the Champions League. When you look at Barcelona, Lyon, they have a really talented squad and a lot of experience. But I know we have the quality to give them trouble. We will work really hard to make sure we have a chance to succeed. I'm confident it will happen one day. I hope it will happen really soon.'
Those close to Chelsea say Bompastor has been a breath of fresh air since her arrival and that players appreciate her human qualities as well as her tactical nous.
'I care about my players,' Bompastor says. 'Sometimes things look easy, but nothing is easy. I think in different moments of the season we've had to fight in different games for different reasons.
'I always say to my players our mentality is to always think anything is possible and to have belief going into every game. When we are all together, with that mentality and psychology, we can do anything.'
With a domestic treble under her belt after just one season, Bompastor is ready for more.