Aggie Beever-Jones interview: Chelsea star on FA Cup final, Euros dream and difference between Bompastor and Hayes

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Evening Standard

·17 mai 2025

Aggie Beever-Jones interview: Chelsea star on FA Cup final, Euros dream and difference between Bompastor and Hayes

Blues striker says chance to finish domestic season unbeaten adds extra motivation against Manchester United as she seeks first Wembley goal

Aggie Beever-Jones speaks with candour from a stuffy room at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground adorned with photos of Didier Drogba and Petr Cech. The house where she grew up is a short 20-minute drive away, both sides of the Beever-Jones family “die-hard” Chelsea fans.

“It feels like home to me, here, and I think that’s what can sometimes make me a bit different to the other girls in the team,” she explains. “I’ve come through the academy, I know the Chelsea way.

“That’s why I’ll always give time to the fans. Like the other day, my sister asked who the man was who I’d hugged after scoring. I had no clue, but being a fan myself, I would have loved being that close and being acknowledged by a player.”

Beever-Jones talks with a wisdom and maturity beyond her 21 years. She plays like it too, a glut of young player of the year awards having just arrived through the post to recognise a season in which she has scored 13 goals and helped Chelsea to win both the WSL title and League Cup.

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Against Manchester United at Wembley on Sunday, in a repeat of the Women’s FA Cup final of 2023, the Blues have the chance to seal a treble and complete an unbeaten domestic season in their very first campaign under manager Sonia Bompastor.

“I’m super excited,” Beever-Jones says of the FA Cup final. “I was out on loan both of the last times. I have such fond memories of growing up and watching the competition. It’s such a nice competition for English football.

“United are the holders, have some really unique players, and will come in all guns blazing, but we want that third trophy of the season. I know we’ll be ready for it.”

Winner: Chelsea are out to seal a domestic treble in their first season under the management of Sonia Bompastor

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Beever-Jones has never played at Wembley, despite being on the bench for England. “It just hasn’t fallen into place yet.”

Alexis Ohanian, the Reddit founder and husband of Serena Williams, announced on Wednesday that he was buying a 10 per cent stake in Chelsea Women for £20million, a move that he felt would “finally match their talent with the resources, visibility and respect they deserve.”

That talent he referred to has been shown by Chelsea’s outstanding first season since legendary manager Emma Hayes passed the baton on to Bompastor.

An invincible campaign is, for Beever-Jones, “absolutely incredible, if I’m honest. So much can happen in 22 games. It got to the second half of the season and we realised: hang on a minute, we’re unbeaten here. I credit a lot of it to Sonia.”

And what of ensuring they finish unbeaten by prevailing at Wembley?

“Of course it’s extra motivation,” she says. “To end the season domestically unbeaten would be such a great stat for Sonia to have in her first season.

“When she came into the building, we all sensed that desire to win. She trusts young players. I sometimes forget I’m 21, trying to play in one of the best teams in the world.

“Look at Wieke [Kaptein]. We played Leicester and drew 1-1, and if it wasn’t for her goal, we’d have lost. That shows Sonia trusts young players and is right to.

“Sometimes if I don’t train to the best of my ability, she’ll sit me down and say: ‘Relax, it’s OK.’ She’s helped my mental side. Alessia [Russo] at England, too, has helped me out massively. She spoke to me about pressure.”

Hayes and Bompastor may share a similar determination to win, but Beever-Jones insists there are differences.

“Sonia is maybe a bit more animated — you can hear or see her from the pitch. Emma was a bit more reserved. Style of play is the biggest difference. Sonia wants players to show for the ball even if they then make a mistake. I feel very lucky to have been coached by both.”

To some extent, I don’t believe that I’ve got to where I’ve got to... I’m just a girl who loves Chelsea and plays for the badge every single day

Aggie Beever-Jones

When Liverpool stunned the Blues 4-3 in April last year, Beever-Jones’s two goals not enough, Chelsea’s players feared they had let the WSL title slip away. In the end they won it, yet Hayes came out immediately after full-time and stated her belief that Beever-Jones could become a Chelsea legend in time, adding that her development felt “better than a trophy”.

“That even took me aback,” says the five-cap England international. “I don’t think I’ve computed that properly. To some extent, I don’t believe that I’ve got to where I’ve got to.

“I’m just a girl who loves Chelsea who plays football and plays for the badge every single day. But those words meant everything to me. I’ll never forget that interview.”

Beever-Jones says: “I always downplay it in my head, all the awards and personal accolades. I’ll never, ever think I’ve made it. But I am immensely proud. I have those awards in my room so when I wake up it reminds me I’m doing well.”

For the third straight season, Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League at the semi-final stage by Barcelona. Yet while the previous two exits were close-run things, this time the aggregate defeat was ugly: 8-2.

“Even now it’s frustrating to talk about,” Beever-Jones says. “You’re playing against one of the best teams in Europe with world-class players. The first leg we did OK. But when you concede that many goals to Barcelona, you give yourself a big task.

“I really believed in the second leg, but it shows their quality that they can get Aitana [Bonmati] on the ball, to dribble half of the pitch and stick it top bins. We can look back on it and learn a lot.”

Ambitions: Beever-Jones wants to earn a place in the England squad for this summer’s European Championship in Switzerland

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Beever-Jones scored her first England goal last month and says: “I’d be lying if I said the dream isn’t the Euros. 100 per cent it is.”

But her focus remains firmly on the FA Cup final, on finishing Chelsea’s gold-standard season with yet more silverware. “Training this week has been one of the hardest weeks. We’re just so up for it.”

Asked whether she believes Chelsea will win, the academy graduate assuredly replies: “Yes. When you get the trophy in your hands and look at each other in the eye and say: ‘We did this together’, that’s one of the nicest things about football. I’m confident we’ll do it.”

And forecasting further ahead, what could be considered success for Chelsea in the coming years?

“Winning. The main target is to bring the Champions League home — the one we’ve not won. We’ve always faced Barcelona!”