Nicky Hayen: From managing Haverfordwest to the Champions League with Club Brugge

Edwards knew the day would come, but he was hoping the club would get a little longer with Hayen at the helm.

When, in the summer of 2022, an approach arrived from Club Brugge to take over their Under-23s, Club NXT, it proved impossible for Hayen to turn down.

“It was a little bit of a surprise,” says Edwards. “I wasn’t expecting to have any dialogue with a club like Club Brugge.”

Hayen stepped in as first-team assistant after Scott Parker was sacked in 2023, before getting his chance as interim manager when Ronny Deila left last March.

There, Hayen found former Sint-Truiden team-mate and ex-Liverpool and Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet to confide in.

“When [Deila] stepped down with 10 games to go last season, Nicky stepped in and won nine of them and they came out of nowhere to win the league. That was a real statement,” says Edwards.

It was during that run that Jan Mulder, the former Ajax and Anderlecht striker turned pundit, made a prediction for Hayen’s future.

“Next year [he] will play a series of matches in the Champions League, attracting the attention of Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Bayern and Manchester,” Mulder wrote in Humo, external in May 2024.

“Nasser Al-Khelaifi of Paris St-Germain also joins the fight for his signature at the last minute. Personally, I think that the great Nicky Hayen will replace Arne Slot from Zwolle as manager of Liverpool within two years.”

The first part of Mulder’s premonition has proven to be true – Hayen’s Brugge beat Villa, Sporting and Sturm Graz in the group phase, as well as drawing with Juventus and Celtic.

The Belgian champions followed up by defeating Atalanta in both legs of their play-off for a 5-2 aggregate victory.

Prior to that second leg in Italy, Hayen explained how before games he always talks to his mother, who passed away four years ago.

“What he has achieved in the Champions League is just incredible. Club Brugge over the years have had far better sides on paper, but he is getting an incredible tune out of them,” says Edwards.

“He is a workaholic, fanatical and leads from the front. I guess that is why a lot of these younger players who are coming through are working so hard for him and having great success.”

Hayen’s brief tenure in Wales also set the platform for Haverfordwest’s future. In 2023, under Tony Pennock, they qualified for Europe for the first time in 19 years and only the second time in their history, reaching the Europa Conference League second qualifying round.

“It’s great for the club to be associated with someone like that,” says Edwards.

“It seems like it is only the start for him. I would love for him to go on. I am sure there will be opportunities to manage even higher if he carries on.

“He is probably one of the hottest properties in Europe.”