The exhaustion had hit Hayes seven months before when she announced her departure, and it has been a long goodbye.
At Old Trafford she seemed to take in every minute, responding to prompts from fans asking what the score was by putting up her hand to signal their 5-0 lead.
She let out a roar of celebration when Johanna Rytting Kaneryd made it 2-0 within eight minutes and encouraged noise from her supporters when news of Aston Villa’s equaliser against Manchester City came through.
She even had time to take in the magnitude of her achievements, with this latest trophy her 14th in an illustrious Chelsea career.
“I did spend time in the second half looking at the Sir Alex Ferguson stand, the 27 years, the volume of trophies, the quotes around the stadium, the history,” said Hayes.
“I missed my drink with Sir Alex afterwards. He was waiting for me and I’m absolutely gutted. He rang me before I came in [for the media conference].
“I’m sorry Sir Alex, I was really looking forward to that glass of red wine.”
The whole afternoon in Manchester felt like one big celebration, not just for Hayes, but for the success of the club in the past decade.
Legendary forward Fran Kirby came off the bench to score the final goal – a fitting end to her Chelsea career.
The away fans chanted “champions of England, five times in a row, you’ll never sing that” as the minutes ticked away and Hayes would look up and smile.
When the whistle eventually went and players sprinted past her to celebrate, captain Millie Bright ran the other way, jumping up and embracing her manager.
Minutes later, Hayes would get pushed towards the fans by USA striker Catarina Macario, urging her to take the plaudits.
Hayes, embarrassed, did so reluctantly but pointed to the badge on her shirt and waved her arms in the air.
“You can tell Cat [Macario] is the American as she’s not afraid of that. I’m British!” said Hayes.
“If I wasn’t a football manager that had to do a press conference every three days, I’m that person in a social circle that sits in the corner.
“I find some of this job really hard as I just want a quiet life. That’s one of the things I’m most looking forward to.”
On the other side of the pitch, Manchester United paraded the FA Cup they won the previous week, but this was not their moment.
This was Hayes’ fairytale ending and she lifted the trophy with Bright before heading down the tunnel to take that phone call from Ferguson.
It was the perfect ending to a unique story and was just reward for Chelsea’s persistence in a season that threw up endless challenges.
“That’s why this is the best title. We’re not stupid, we know we weren’t at our best,” added Hayes.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think you guys realise how hard it is to win and win and win.
“We’ve played significantly more games over the last five years and I think it took its toll on our senior players.
“I almost can’t believe we’ve won the title, I can’t believe it.”
Sophie Anderson, a UK-based writer, is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, she explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture, keeping readers in the know about the latest online sensations.
