Paul Green has opened up about his emotional exit from Chelsea after 13 trophy-laden years, revealing that he left the club with so many medals he barely knew what to do with them. Speaking to BBC Sport, the former Chelsea head of women’s football said the majority of his medals were hidden away in a box under his bed.
“It was only when he had gone that he truly began to appreciate what he had done,” the report notes — and Green has now had time to get those medals framed, closing one remarkable chapter of his career.
A trophy haul beyond belief
Green formed a formidable partnership with ex-manager Emma Hayes and helped lead the Blues to an astonishing 19 major trophies. Under his leadership, Chelsea won six successive Women’s Super League titles, the last of them under current manager Sonia Bompastor in 2025, and reached the Women’s Champions League final in 2021.
The club became the most dominant force in the WSL during that era. Reflecting on it now, Green said, “It was an incredible time. There was a lot of potential that Emma Hayes sold to me and that came to fruition. What the [players] went on to achieve, in my eyes, will never be beaten and it will be difficult for any team to replicate that type of dominance.”
He added, “It was some of the best times of my life. It’s probably not until you’re out of it that you actually appreciate what the success was. I had so many medals that were just chucked under the bed in a box. I’ve had time to get them framed. Now I’ve got a new chapter here at Bay FC.”
Why he left Chelsea
Green left suddenly in February amid reports of unrest in Chelsea’s hierarchy. Asked about his departure, he struck a diplomatic but proud tone: “Look, football clubs move on and a lot of people have changed at that club in recent years. I think ultimately they chose to go in a different direction but I feel very proud of the job that I did there and I left the club in a lot better position than when I first went in there.”
He admitted the response to his exit was “overwhelming,” and that he needed time to adapt after seven months out of football — time he spent with his family. “It was people just in the general women’s football world who really appreciated the work and success that we had there,” he said. “Of course, that touched me and it took me forever to get back to everybody who had reached out because there was that many.”
Green was also honest about the difficulty of stepping away from routine: “In the early days, having a lack of structure was difficult because I had gone from 13 years of having certain routines. That part was difficult.”
A new chapter at Bay FC
Green was appointed chief football officer of San Francisco club Bay FC in September, taking over a project led by former FA director Kay Cossington under the multi-club ownership of Bay Collective. He is clearly excited about the future.
“They sold me the vision for the club. It became too good an opportunity to turn down,” he said. “The potential there of building something really special is what I’m looking forward to. I think it’s got some similarities to the early days at Chelsea.”
Bay FC are moving into new training facilities next year, and Green has vowed to act in the transfer window — the club is currently third bottom of the National Women’s Soccer League with three matches left in the 2026 season. “With the connections and network that I’ve built up over 20 years, I’m confident that I can bring in a few players to help the good nucleus of talent we’ve got,” he said. “You have to have the infrastructure right off the pitch in terms of staffing and facilities and that’s something we are working on.”
Source: BBC Sport — read the full story there.
