The landscape of women’s football in the UK was very different on this day in 2012, when Emma Hayes was appointed as the new manager of Chelsea Ladies, as our female team was known at the time.

There was no press conference, no introductory interviews with media – either externally or internally – just a brief statement on this website to reveal that a little-known coach, on these shores at least, had taken the reins from Matt Beard.

The first time Hayes spoke to the press in a formal capacity was for an interview shortly after her first game at the helm with one of the club’s matchday programme writers, which was then turned into her first column for the men’s team’s publication.

We’ve listened back to that interview a decade on and picked out a few gems which, looking back now, gave us a good indication of what was to come from the most successful manager in the modern era of women’s football…

On Chelsea's win over Doncaster Rovers Belles in her first game…

It was a good result at Donny – but more importantly a good performance. We’d been working a lot in training on our new shape and our technical set-up, so it was crucial we developed those ideas in the game itself.

On the new tactics she was introducing to the team…

I don’t want to give it to Birmingham [the Blues’ next opponents], but I’ll tell you! We want to work on the strengths of the players we’ve got, working on a possession-based, short-passing game that should see us dominate the ball as a team.

On the feel-good factor around women’s football after the 2012 Olympics in London…

Yeah, women’s football was one of the stronger team sports coming out of the Games. There’s a greater appreciation of the quality of players involved in the women’s game, and that’s worldwide, not just GB. Everybody’s been buoyed by that and collectively the players and the league have a responsibility to carry that forward, to make sure there’s a lasting legacy.

On taking her first managerial role in England…

Yeah. This is my first managerial job in my own country. I was the assistant, first-team coach and academy director at Arsenal. I mainly coached the first team during the week, but I managed the academy during the day. Then I went over to the States, with Chicago Red Stars and then on to Washington Freedom and Western New York Flash. Had there been a league I would have probably gone to Sky Blue.

I was the manager at Chicago, head coach at the Freedom and then with Western New York I was the technical director, so I basically built the squad. I spent the owner’s money and built his team!

On her aims for the rest of her first season with the Blues…

To raise the team’s level of play so that they find more consistent performance. They made the FA Cup final and then went on a downward slope. For me, conceding 17 goals is far too many, so making the team tougher to beat is the first objective. The second is to develop a playing style that fits with the ethos of the club. They played quite a long-ball style before, we want to play more of a short-passing game that’s more suited to the characteristics of the players we have.

On Chelsea's place in the women’s game overall…

It’s a club that’s underachieving. That’s the bottom line. It has the brand recognition and relative support from the club, but it should be a Champions League club. There are no ifs or buts about it. The first thing is performance – without that, you can’t get results. If we can get the performance, we can aspire towards the right results, and we’ll do it playing a certain way. The players are ambitious and hungry.

On her playing days across London with Arsenal…

I played in midfield, up until the age of 17 or 18 and then I had a career-ending ankle injury that has left me with no cartilage. It just wasn’t my destiny. I took my B-License as a 17-year-old, so I started on the coaching path a lot younger. I’m 35 and I’m on my eighth or ninth team. That’s just the way the stars fall – I would have loved to have a career playing football, but this is what I’m supposed to be doing…