Matt Beard inducted into WSL Hall of Fame
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Former Liverpool Women’s manager Matt Beard has been inducted into the WSL Hall of Fame posthumously. Image Credits: Imago ImagesThe Women’s Super League has long been shaped by coaches who gave everything to grow the game – and few gave more than Matt Beard.On Thursday, the Barclays Women’s Super League officially honoured that legacy, announcing Beard as one of three new inductees into its Hall of Fame for 2026.The induction is posthumous.
Beard tragically passed away in September 2025 at the age of 47, leaving behind a profound void in women’s football and in the lives of all who knew him.The recognition, decided by the Barclays WSL Hall of Fame panel – comprising former players, coaches, officials and journalists – reflects a career that fundamentally shaped the English women’s game.Beard managed the club across two separate spells, the first beginning in 2012. During that initial tenure, he guided Liverpool to back-to-back WSL titles in 2013 and 2014.He returned to the club in 2021 and, true to form, delivered again — winning the FA Women’s Championship to secure Liverpool’s promotion back to the WSL in 2022.
He was twice named WSL Manager of the Season; in 2013 and 2024.Joining Beard in the 2026 Hall of Fame are Casey Stoney MBE, the legendary defender and former England international who briefly played for Liverpool, and Kerys Harrop, who spent her entire 12-year career in the WSL and was once its record appearance holder. All three will be formally inducted at next month’s WSL Football Awards.Tributes that poured in following his passing spoke as much to the person as to the manager.Players like Fara Williams described him as more than a coach – “a friend, someone who saw potential in me that I didn’t see in myself.”That sentiment was shared widely across the women’s game, from former colleagues at Liverpool to opponents who simply knew him from the touchline.While the Hall of Fame induction is the formal recognition; the outpouring of grief last September was the real measure of the man.