"We realized that having lied for 13 years is a heavy secret to keep" - Chelsea women's manager lifts lid on secret relationship with her assistant

Chelsea women's team manager Sonia Bompastor has lifted the lid on her secret relationship with her assistant Camille Abily. The French tactician revealed in her book 'A Life of Football' that she and Abily had been together for 13 years but kept their relationship a secret.

Speaking about her relationship in a recent interview with L'Equipe, the former Olympique Lyonnais midfielder opened up on the difficulty of keeping her relationship secret for over a decade, saying (via talkSPORT):

"Revealing my life together with Camille, our relationship, after — as I say in the book — these thirteen years of lying, is still a subject on which, even today, we are not entirely comfortable. We are rather discreet, and we like to have a completely normal life. Finally, we realized that having lied for thirteen years is a heavy secret to keep. With hindsight and our different experiences, we tell ourselves that we should have revealed it from the start."

Bompastor was appointed as the Chelsea women's team manager in May 2024 on a four-year deal, replacing the dominant Emma Hayes. She has led the Blues to the top of the WSL with 13 wins and one draw from 14 games so far. Her side have scored 40 goals and conceded seven.

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Chelsea women's team manager hails Lauren James after late winner v Everton

Chelsea women's team manager Sonia Bompastor hailed Lauren James for her late winner against Everton. The 23-year-old bagged her second goal in six games in the WSL to help the Blues to another win.

Speaking to the press after the match, Bompastor hailed the English forward for her performance and her late winner, saying (via FotMob):

"I have already said a lot about LJ, her potential and all of her talents. If we didn't have her on the pitch until the end, we couldn't have won the game. That's simple. You need to have these creative players and players with these talents to win games. She just showed her magic. She has been able to play two 90-minute games, so she's getting back to really good shape. She also defended a lot for the team and that's also something we've been talking about together to make sure she works really hard for the team."

Bompastor concluded, saying:

"Sometimes it's good for emotions, even for the fans or the players, to live those emotions. You have to fight until the end. As you can see from the beginning of the season, sometimes I do not have a lot of reactions on the goals and everything. But, this one, I reacted a bit more."

Bompastor has led Chelsea on a fabulous run of form. The Blues have won their last nine matches in all competitions. The West London club are also unbeaten under the French manager since she took over in May.