Following the death of Matt Beard, Arne Slot has paid tribute to the former Liverpool Women manager who sadly died on Saturday.
Since news broke that Beard had passed away aged 47, tributes have been forthcoming from countless corners of the football world.
Slot has now paid tribute, the pair having been at the club concurrently for nine months until Beard left in February of this year.
“My reaction was one of grief,” Slot told Liverpoolfc.com.
“I met him last season and he not only did great things for this football club, for the women’s team, back-to-back league titles, came back to [the] new women’s team when they were playing one division below, so that tells you probably how much he loved the club as well.
“If you hear a thing like this, I think 47 if I’m correct – that’s my age as well at the moment – then [you are] devastated to hear…
“I’ve heard and also saw the respect the Arsenal fans showed him, so that tells you how much impact he had on the game of football. [But] then we only talk about football, I think the Melwood staff and everyone that worked with him liked him so much – and that’s probably even a more important legacy to leave behind than the trophies you win.
“That the person you are is always more important than what you’ve won. But in his situation, both things were combined – so successful as a manager and a great human being.
“This football club is not only the men’s team, it’s also the women’s team and he had an enormous impact on women’s football here with Liverpool. But apart from that, it’s also his family that’s going through such a hard time at the moment.”
Gareth Taylor’s tribute to Matt Beard
Beard was loved by fans and players, winning two WSL titles in his first spell at the club, before returning in 2021 to guide the Reds back to the top flight in his first season back.
He left the club in February after more than six years combined service. This summer, Gareth Taylor was announced as his permanent replacement.
The new manager said: “It’s just really devastating news. Devastating for his family and friends and especially Debbie, Harry and Ellie. All of our thoughts of course are with them at this moment,” said Taylor.
“I had a bit more insight into Matt because I used to play with his brother Mark at Sheffield United, they were very close and really supportive of each other’s journeys. It’s a huge loss and he will leave a big void.
“We have lost Matt far too young. But where we can take some solace is by thinking of the huge impact he managed to have on so many people across his 47 years, a real legacy and he packed in more than a lot of people who are fortunate to be around until their old age.
“You only have to look at all the tributes that have come in from everywhere since Saturday to understand that.
“I had big shoes to fill when I came in here, and I was really supported well by Matt. He phoned me on a number of occasions.
“We’d already had a decent relationship, he was a coach that I came up against over the last four or five years – he was at various clubs; Bristol, West Ham and obviously Liverpool. I loved my duels on the sidelines with him.
“We both got animated… most of the time him more so than me! But what a guy, you never fell out with him. One of us would hold our hands up and say, ‘I got it wrong.’ And that’s what you want.
“I have to say, he’s the most enjoyable to work with – in the sense of coming up against – in my time in the women’s game. The legacy he has left, as a person firstly, because of the impression he left on the people he worked with at all of his clubs, particularly here at Liverpool. And then obviously his record as a gaffer.
“He took Liverpool to the real heights of the game. The most decorated women’s manager for Liverpool and I think that is only half of the story. The other half is the void he will leave as a person.
“He served all of his clubs really, really well and definitely left an impression. As a person, as a coach, as an employee of a club, that’s what you look for: to try to leave an impression, and you hope it’s a good one.
“It certainly was with Matt. He left so many memories for people to hold onto.”
Rest in peace, Beardie.