Ian Wright hilariously uses Chelsea Women’s boss Emma Hayes as his ‘Phone a Friend’ during Stick to Football’s Christmas quiz for a question about HERSELF… but does she get the answer right?

Ian Wright knew exactly who he wanted to call when given a ‘Phone a Friend’ lifeline during the latest Stick to Football show quiz. 

The Arsenal icon, along with Man United great Roy Keane, were asked a question about Chelsea Women’s boss Emma Hayes and West Ham manager David Moyes. 

Wright and Keane were asked: ‘Which managerial tenure was longer for their club: Emma Hayes (when she leaves the club at the end of the 2023-24 season) or David Moyes when he was at Everton?’.

The duo pondered for a few minutes before deciding to use their ‘Phone a Friend’ option, where Keane jokingly suggested he’d call up Joey Barton, who has been very outspoken on women in football of late. 

Wright on the other hand decided to go straight to the subject, calling up Hayes herself.

Wright and Hayes (second from the left) have a close relationship and often work together

The incident occurred on the Stick to Football Show with Wright alongside Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Roy Keane and special guest Paddy McGuinness, who hosted the quiz.

Arsenal legend Wright called up Hayes, who he regularly works with during punditry shows, and said: ‘Don’t swear Emma you’re on live TV, well not really, we’re on Stick to Football’.

After relaying the question to the Chelsea Women’s manager, Hayes said: ‘Ooh, that’s a good question. If I was to enter into my next season, it’d be my twelfth season’.

Wright responded: ‘That’ll do us, Ems!’ before quickly agreeing with Keane that Hayes would have had a longer tenure. 

They were in fact correct, with Hayes’ stint at Chelsea, currently, being one month longer than Moyes’ 11-year-and-three-month stay at the Toffees.

Last month, Hayes shocked the club after announcing that she would be leaving at the end of the season to take up a new role as the US Women’s coach.

The US have been looking for a manager since Vlatko Andonovski was sacked after a disappointing last-16 exit at this summer’s World Cup. Twila Kilgore has served as interim manager since Andonovski’s departure.

Mail Sport revealed that Chelsea sporting director Paul Winstanley had been tasked with agreeing a new contract with Hayes at the start of the season, but failed to secure a deal before the club’s iconic manager received an alternative offer from the United States national team.

Hayes, who has brought Chelsea six WSL titles, will leave the club at the end of the season 

Hayes is understood to have indicated a desire to stay at Chelsea for the rest of her career during initial talks with the club, but the negotiations were placed on hold due to Winstanley focussing on other issues.

Stamford Bridge sources told Mail Sport that securing Hayes’ future on a long-term deal should have been treated as a priority given her extraordinary record of winning six Women’s Super League titles and five FA Cups for the club, leading to widespread frustration that the matter was allowed to drift. 

Winstanley’s view is that Chelsea offered to make Hayes the highest-paid manager in the WSL by some distance only for US Soccer to present her with the opportunity of a lifetime.

Hayes, 47, is the longest-serving manager in the WSL, having joined Chelsea in 2012.