Emma Hayes is a legend herself in soccer, but her mother, Miriam, was truly starstruck when she saw Tom Cruise. She couldn’t help but try and get a picture with him, but it wasn’t so easy. Back in August 2024, when the Top Gun star was present at the Paris Olympics, cheering on the Hayes’ USWNT side during the final match, her team went on to win 1-0, and for Miriam, another joyous occasion was that she managed to get a photo with Cruise. While it was a memorable moment, she had to pull some strings to get the snap. 

“I said could you ask him (if) I could have a photo done with him, he had only one bodyguard, I kept looking over cause my granddaughter had got done a photo with him outside and I thought, oh she’s had one, I want one,” said Miriam in an interview with B/R Football. For Emma, it was a surreal moment seeing her whole family hanging out with Tom Cruise. “Can you tell him it’s Emma Hayes’ mum, and I never say that?” Miriam recalled, explaining how she managed to get past security and cheekily grab a picture.

With less than two months to prepare for a major tournament, Hayes did the impossible by winning it unbeaten. But for her, the transition was anything but smooth; she had to leave behind 12 years at Stamford Bridge, adjust to a new country, a new style of play, and a completely different environment. It took a toll on her, but her mother, Miriam, always believed her daughter would rise to the top.

“As long as she played football, Emma was happy,” says Miriam

Miriam highlighted that growing up, the game meant a lot to Emma. “She loved football, and she didn’t really wanna do anything else, as long as she played football, Emma was happy,” said Miriam. She spent her youth career at Arsenal but was forced to quit playing altogether because of an ankle injury. Over her two-decade managerial career, Hayes has a win percentage of 65.34%, which ranks her among the best managers in history.

At Chelsea, she’s won the Women’s Super League 7 times, with 5 of those wins coming in a row between the 2019/20 and 2023/24 seasons, so it’s safe to say she does enjoy football quite a lot. While her managerial career is something that others aspire to, Hayes mentions that she had to sacrifice a lot of intimate moments with her family. She is thankful for her family always being there for her, especially her late father, whose necklace she carries around all the time.