Villa v Liverpool Women's Super League match postponed after Matt Beard's death
WSL clash called off after death of former Liverpool manager Matt Beard; tributes planned and minute of silence to be observed
A Women's Super League match between Aston Villa and Liverpool was postponed on Sunday after the death of former Liverpool manager Matt Beard. The Women’s Super League issued a statement saying a further announcement regarding the rearrangement of the fixture would be made in due course.
Beard, 47, led Liverpool to back-to-back WSL titles in 2013 and 2014, and he managed Liverpool during their first Champions League campaign. He was reappointed in 2021 and led the Reds to promotion back to the WSL, helping them to a seventh-placed finish the following season. Beard died on Saturday.
Liverpool paid tribute to "an extremely committed and successful manager" in a statement, adding that he was "a person of real integrity and warmth, who will always be remembered with genuine fondness by everyone he worked with at the club. Rest in peace, Matt."
Beard was appointed Burnley manager in June but resigned after just two months in charge. On Sunday, Burnley’s Women’s National League match against West Brom was also postponed. The Women’s Super League posted on X that a minute’s silence would be held before kick-off in games taking place in both the WSL and WSL2.