Sonia Bompastor

Sonia Bompastor
	Bompastor in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Sonia Bompastor
Date of birth	8 June 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth	Blois, Loir-et-Cher, France
Height	1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Chelsea (manager)
Youth career
1988–1994	US Mer
1994–1997	US Thoury
1997–2000	Tours EC
Senior career*
Years	Team
2000–2002	La Roche-sur-Yon
2002–2006	Montpellier
2006–2009	Lyon
2009–2010	Washington Freedom
2009–2010	→ Paris Saint-Germain (loan)
2010–2013	Lyon
International career
1997–1998	France U18
2000–2013	France
Managerial career
2013–2021	Lyon Academy
2021–2024	Lyon
2024–	Chelsea
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Last updated March 22, 2025 • 9 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Sonia Bompastor (born 8 June 1980) is a French football manager and former player who manages Chelsea of the English Women's Super League.^[2] She is the first person to win the UEFA Women's Champions League as both a player and a manager, and is widely considered to be one of the best women's players in French history.^[3]

Bompastor was a midfielder, preferably on the left side; she also played at left back. Bompastor was a two-time winner of the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) Female Player of the Year, and following a move to the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league in the United States, earned Player of the Month and All-Star honors.

Bompastor began her football career joining US Mer in 1988. In 1992, she joined US Thoury. In the same year, Bompastor earned selection to nationally recognized Clairefontaine academy joining alongside a select group of female players. After her stint at Clairefontaine, she joined Tours EC, now the women's section of professional club Tours FC. In 2000, she joined Division 1 Féminine club ESOF Vendée La Roche-sur-Yon and performed well enough to earn a move to Montpellier. At Montpellier, Bompastor earned domestic and individual honors, which resulted in a move to champions Lyon. In 2008, she joined the new United States-based women's soccer league, Women's Professional Soccer, after her American playing rights were chosen by Washington Freedom in the 2008 WPS International Draft.^[4] After helping the Freedom reached the playoffs, Bompastor returned to France where she played for Paris Saint-Germain on loan. In 2010, she announced that she would be returned to Lyon for the 2010–11 season and, subsequently, was a part of the team that won the 2010–11 UEFA Women's Champions League.

Bompastor is also a French international. Prior to playing for the senior team, she played at youth level representing the under-18 team at the 1998 UEFA Women's Under-18 Championship. Bompastor made her senior international debut in February 2000 in a friendly match against Scotland. From 2004 to 2006, she served as the national team's captain. Bompastor has played in numerous tournaments for her nation beginning with UEFA Women's Euro 2001.

In June 2013, Bompastor chose to end her career after the French Women's Cup final.^[5] She became the academy director of Olympique Lyonnais Féminin after retirement.^[6] In April 2021, she took over as manager of Lyon's first team.^[7]^[8]

Club career

Early career

Bompastor was born in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, and began playing football at an early age. Of Portuguese origin, both of her parents are from Póvoa de Varzim and most of her family still lives in the area. Bompastor told Ma Chaîne Sport that she always goes to Póvoa when she has the opportunity to do so.^[9] She was drawn to football through her father, who was a referee.^[10] He took her to many of the games he refereed on the weekends and Bompastor quickly developed an attraction towards the game.^[10]

Bompastor began her football career in 1988 at US Mer, a local club in a neighboring commune, playing with the club's mixed team. In 1992, she joined US Thoury. That same year, Bompastor earned selection to an exclusive female team that was given clearance to train at the Clairefontaine academy by the French Football Federation.^[10] The academy had quickly become a high-level training facility for male football players and supporters of women's football wanted younger women to be afforded the same benefits from the facilities as young men. Following vocational training at Clairefontaine, Bompastor moved to amateur team Tours EC. She spent four years at the club before joining ESOF Vendée La Roche-sur-Yon of the Division 1 Féminine in 2000.

Professional career

Bompastor's professional career began with ESOF Vendée La Roche-sur-Yon in 2000. She scored seven goals over her two years with the club before moving to Montpellier HSC in 2002.

At Montpellier, Bompastor blossomed and scored 38 goals over four seasons while helping the club win league titles in 2004 and 2005, as well as the 2006 Challenge de France (women's version of the Coupe de France). In that 2005-06 campaign, Montpellier also reached the UEFA Women's Cup semi-finals.

Lyon was the next destination for Bompastor, for whom she joined in the summer of 2006. She became an important part of the side that won back-to-back league titles in 2006-07 and 2007-08, also winning the Challenge de France in 2008 to complete a domestic double. This gave her six titles in a span of four years, equal to teammates Camille Abily and Élodie Thomis, who were also a part of the same Montpellier team Bompastor had previously played for.

On 24 September 2008, Bompastor was selected to join the new United States-based women's soccer league, Women's Professional Soccer, after her American playing rights were chosen by Washington Freedom in the 2008 WPS International Draft.^[4] Her Lyon teammate Louisa Necib was also chosen by the Freedom. In the 2009 Women's Professional Soccer season, Bompastor appeared in 19 games (all starts, 1709 total minutes) and scored four goals with six assists. She was included in the league's all-star team in each of her two seasons with Washington Freedom.^[11]

Following the conclusion of the season, she returned to France with a loan move to D1 Féminine side Paris Saint-Germain, for whom she scored an impressive ten goals in 13 league games. In 2010, Bompastor confirmed she would re-join Lyon ahead of the 2010-11 season, where she reunited with former Montpellier coach Patrice Lair.

In her first season back, Bompastor captained Lyon to the French league title and she also won the first UEFA Women's Champions League of her career, with Les Fenottes beating German outfit Turbine Potsdam 2-0 in the final at Craven Cottage. Bompastor was at the heart of a hugely successful Lyon team that repeated their league and Champions League successes in the next season, also adding the Coupe de France to complete the first treble in Lyon's history. In the 2012 UWCL final, they beat Frankfurt 2-0 in front of over 50,000 fans at the Olympiastadion in Munich, claimed by UEFA to be a European record for women's club football.

Bompastor again led Lyon to the D1 Féminine title in 2012-13 but her side were beaten 1-0 by Wolfsburg in the 2013 Champions League final. In June 2013, the defender announced that she will retire from football after that month's Coupe de France Féminine final against AS Saint-Étienne. "I figured it was a good time (to stop)," she said. "In terms of career and track record, I've won all that I could win. As a woman, I have other goals such as starting a family."^[5]

In her last match before retirement, she played 81 minutes and provided a set-piece assist for Eugenie Le Sommer as Lyon beat Saint-Étienne 3-1 in the 2013 Coupe de France final.^{[ citation needed ]} This triumph completed the third domestic double of Bompastor's career.^[12] Across the three seasons of her second spell with Lyon, Bompastor made 94 appearances, scored nine goals, lifted seven trophies and solidified her legacy as one of the world's best women's players of her generation.

International career

Bompastor made her international debut for the Bleues on 26 February 2000 in a match against Scotland. She was a member of the squads that participated in the 2001 (her first tournament with France), 2005, and 2009 editions of the UEFA Women's Championship. She also represented France at the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup and the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. Bompastor's strong displays in the 2011 edition, where France finished fourth, saw her named in FIFA's All-Star Team of the Tournament.

On 27 September 2008, Bompastor picked up her 100th cap in a crucial UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying match against Iceland,^[13] which France won 2–1. Bompastor finished her international career with 156 appearances and 19 goals to her name, making her France's eighth most capped player of all time (as of February 2025).^[14]

Managerial career

Lyon

After retiring from playing football in 2013, Bompastor moved into a coaching role at Lyon's academy. She managed at the club's academy for eight years.

In April 2021, Bompastor was appointed manager of Lyon's first team, making her the first woman to ever take charge of Les Fenottes.^[15] During the 2021-22 campaign, her first full season in charge, she impressively led Lyon to a double: Division 1 and UEFA Women's Champions League success. The UWCL triumph in May 2022, where her side beat Barcelona 3-1 in the final, meant Bompastor became the first person to win Europe's top competition as both a player and a head coach.^[16]

Bompastor won three consecutive Division 1 titles in the 2021–22, 2022–23 and 2023–24 seasons respectively. In the 2022–23 UWCL, Bompastor's Lyon team reached the quarter-final, where they fell 3-2 on aggregate to Chelsea. The following year, in the 2023–24 UWCL, she led them to the final of the competition for a second time, but they ultimately lost 2-0 to the quadruple-winning Barcelona.^[17] In total, she lifted seven trophies overall during her spell at Lyon.

Chelsea

On 29 May 2024, Bompastor was appointed manager of Chelsea, on a four-year deal.^[2] She replaced Emma Hayes, who had been in charge for 12 years.

She managed her first match with Chelsea on 20 September 2024 in a 1–0 win over Aston Villa.^[18] On 12 October 2024, she led Chelsea to the club's first win at the Emirates Stadium and the club's first away win to Arsenal since 2020 when they won the match 2–1.^[19]

On 16 November 2024, Chesea beat Manchester City 2–0 to go to the top of the WSL table after winning each of their seven league matches with Bompastor in charge (ten wins out of ten matches in all competitions).^[20] It was the best-ever start for any manager in the league’s fourteen-year history.^[21]

On 15 March 2025, Bompastor won her first trophy with Chelsea after beating Manchester City 2–1 at Pride Park in the 2024–25 FA Women's League Cup final. It was the club's first success in the competition since 2021 after they had lost the previous 3 finals in a row.^[22]

Private

In February 2025, Bompastor and Camille Abily announced that they have been in a relationship for 13 years and that they have four children together.^[23] Abily was Lyon's assistant coach before Bompastor took over at the club, and she has been Bompastor's assistant both at Lyon and Chelsea.

Career statistics

Club

As of 18 September 2016^[24]^[25]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League		Cup		Continental		Total
Club	Season	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
La Roche-sur-Yon	2000–01
	2001–02
	Total
Montpellier	2002–03	22	12	2	1	0	0	24	13
	2003–04	22	7	3	1	0	0	25	8
	2004–05	18	5	0	0	9	2	27	7
	2005–06	21	12	0	0	5	1	26	13
	Total	83	36	5	2	14	3	102	41
Lyon	2006–07	20	9	0	0	0	0	20	9
	2007–08	21	5	5	3	9	2	35	10
	2008–09	13	1	0	0	5	1	18	2
	Total	54	15	5	3	14	3	73	21
Washington Freedom	2009	19	4					19	4
	2010	22	2					22	2
	Total	41	6					41	6
Paris Saint-Germain	2009–10	13	10	0	0	0	0	13	10
Lyon	2010–11	19	2	3	0	6	1	28	3
	2011–12	22	2	4	0	8	2	34	4
	2012–13	18	0	5	0	9	2	32	2
	Total	59	4	12	0	51	5	94	9
Career total		250	71	22	5	37	11	309	87

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[24]^[26]
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
France	1999–2000	3	0
	2000–01	14	0
	2001–02	10	0
	2002–03	13	1
	2003–04	15	5
	2004–05	10	0
	2005–06	13	2
	2006–07	13	1
	2007–08	8	1
	2008–09	5	1
	2009–10	12	4
	2010–11	17	2
	2011–12	23	2
Total		156	19

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	23 August 2002	Stade Félix-Bollaert, Lens, France	Denmark	2–0	2–0	2003 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
2	21 February 2004	Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier, France	Scotland	1–1	6–3	Friendly
3	21 February 2004	Stade de La Mosson, Montpellier, France	Scotland	5–3	6–3	Friendly
4	14 March 2004	Estádio da Nora, Ferreiras, Portugal	United States	5–1	5–1	2004 Algarve Cup
5	16 March 2004	Estádio Municipal, Quarteira, Portugal	Sweden	0–3	0–3	2004 Algarve Cup
6	21 February 2004	Stade Auguste Delaune, Reims, France	Hungary	2–0	6–0	2005 UEFA Women's Championship qualification
7	21 February 2004	Stade Fernand Sastre, Sens, France	Republic of Ireland	3–0	6–0	Friendly
8	22 April 2006	Stadion Eszperantó Út, Dunaújváros, Hungary	Hungary	0–2	0–5	2007 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
9	22 November 2006	Stade de la Libération, Boulogne-sur-Mer, France	Belgium	4–0	6–0	Friendly
10	23 April 2008	Yiannis Pathiakakis Stadium, Akratitos, Greece	Greece	0–3	0–5	UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying
11	25 April 2009	Colmar Stadium, Colmar, France	Switzerland	1–0	1–0	Friendly
12	24 August 2009	Ratina Stadion, Tampere, Finland	Iceland	1–2	1–3	UEFA Women's Euro 2009
13	25 February 2010	Richman Park, Dublin, Ireland	Republic of Ireland	0–1	1–2	Friendly
14	27 March 2010	Stade de la Libération, Boulogne-sur-Mer, France	Northern Ireland	2–0	6–0	2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
15	31 March 2010	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland	0–1	0–4	2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
16	15 September 2010	Stadio Pietro Barbetti, Gubbio, Italy	Italy	1–3	2–3	2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
17	13 July 2011	Borussia-Park, Mönchengladbach, Germany	United States	1–1	1–3	2011 FIFA Women's World Cup
18	26 October 2011	Stade de l'Aube, Troyes, France	Israel	2–0	5–0	UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying
19	28 February 2012	GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus	Switzerland	3–0	3–0	2012 Cyprus Cup

Managerial statistics

As of matches played 19 March 2025

Managerial record by team and tenure
Team	From	To	Record								Ref
Team	From	To	G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %	Ref
Lyon (women)	27 April 2021^[7]	25 May 2024	118	100	10	8	381	71	+310	084.75	^[27]
Chelsea (women)	29 May 2024^[2]	present	29	26	2	1	82	20	+62	089.66
Total			147	126	12	9	463	91	+372	085.71

Honours

Player

Montpellier

Division 1 Féminine: 2003–04, 2004–05^{[ citation needed ]}
Coupe de France Féminine: 2005–06^{[ citation needed ]}

Lyon

Division 1 Féminine: 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13 ^{[ citation needed ]}
Coupe de France Féminine: 2007–08, 2011–12, 2012–13^{[ citation needed ]}
UEFA Women's Champions League: 2010–11, 2011–12 ^{[ citation needed ]}

France

Cyprus Cup: 2012 ^{[ citation needed ]}

Individual

UNFP Female Player of the Year: 2003–04, 2007–08^{[ citation needed ]}
WPS Player of the Month: May 2009 ^{[ citation needed ]}
WPS All-Star: 2009, 2010 ^{[ citation needed ]}
FIFA Women's World Cup All-Star Team: 2011 ^{[ citation needed ]}

Manager