The first full week of 2025 was chocked-full of NWSL news.
Leading the team-related notables are the hiring of former Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall as the head coach of the San Diego Wave and the signing of former United States Men’s National Team defender Jeff Agoos as the new General Manager and President of Soccer Operations for the Portland Thorns.
Also, Racing Louisville officially introduced its director of operations, Caitlyn Milby, as its interim general manager.
Additionally, a belated update on the lawsuit against the San Diego Wave: A sixth plaintiff was added in late October 2024 as a second ‘Jane Doe’.
Portland Thorns: Former USMNT defender Jeff Agoos named President of Soccer Operations and General Manager
On Tuesday, January 7th (press release), the Thorns announced the hiring of Jeff Agoos, who was most recently a Senior Vice President of Major League Soccer in charge of league operations. Prior to working for MLS, Agoos was with the New York Red Bulls as its Technical Director and later, its Sporting Director.
Agoos has no prior experience concerning women’s professional soccer.
Also announced in the same press release was the appointing of former Bay FC general manager Lucy Rushton and sports consultant Angus McNab (consulting firm bio) as “Strategic Advisors”.
Agoos lack of specific experience in women’s soccer is perhaps, at least in part, why Rushton was brought in as an advisor.
Agoos was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2009. He played for the United States Men’s National Team from 1998 to 2003. He appeared in 134 matches and scored 4 international goals (2024 USMNT media guide). Agoos was a member of three FIFA World Cup squads for the USA (1994, 1998, and 2002) and was an over-age player on the USA’s 2000 Summer Olympics men’s soccer team.
In the MLS, Agoos played for D.C. United, the San Jose Earthquakes, and the MetroStars (now the New York Red Bulls). With the United and the Earthquakes, Agoos won a total of five MLS championships.
Agoos played NCAA soccer for the Virginia Cavaliers under Bruce Arena, who also coached Agoos when Arena was head coach of D.C. United and later the USMNT.
San Diego Wave: Former Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall hired as head coach
On Tuesday, January 7th (press release), the Wave officially revealed Jonas Eidevall as the club’s new head coach.
The 41-year-old Eidevall was most recently in charge of Arsenal from June 2021 to October 2024. During his first three seasons with the Gunners, Arsenal finished second, third, and third, respectively, in Women’s Super League. Arsenal also won back-to-back FA Women’s League Cup trophies in 2023 and 2024, defeating Emma Hayes’s Chelsea both times.
Eidevall stepped down from Arsenal on October 15, 2024 (press release), after a poor start to the 2024-25 season, which included a 2:5 loss to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Women’s Champions League and only one win in Arsenal’s first three WSL matches (in-depth ESPN.com article).
Prior to Arsenal, Eidevall helmed FC Rosengård in his native Sweden for three Damallsvenskan seasons (2018 to 2020). This was his second tenure in charge of Rosengård, as he also managed that club during the 2013 (when it was LdB FC Malmö) and 2014 seasons. In his five seasons with Rosengård, Eidevall won three Damallsvenskan titles (2013, 2014, and 2019).
Eidevall also has stints working as an assistant coach for men’s teams in Sweden and Denmark. His first head coaching job was with men’s club Lunds BK, when it was in the fourth level of Sweden’s pyramid. In his first season with Lunds, the team won its league and was promoted to a higher division.
Racing Louisville: Caitlyn Milby named as Interim General Manager
On Wednesday, January 8th, the club introduced Caitlyn Milby, who has been Racing’s Director of Operations since March 2022, as its Interim General Manager (news item with press conference video).
Here is her bio from Racing’s website:
Caitlyn Milby, formerly Flores, joined Racing in 2022 as director of operations. Prior to that, Milby spent two years as the facility manager for Soccer Holdings. She previously served as the National Events Coordinator with the Elite Clubs National League, working in a vital operations role for the top youth soccer circuit in the country. Milby holds a bachelor’s degree in sports administration from the University of Louisville, where she played for the soccer team, and a master’s degree in sports leadership from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Racing’s previous general manager, Ryan Dell, stepped down in November 2024, and is now working for the Kansas City Current as their head of soccer operations (10-Dec-2024 x.com post).
San Diego Wave: On October 31, 2024, a sixth former employee joined the lawsuit against the Wave organization
On January 7th, Defector reported that a second Jane Doe was added to the lawsuit against the San Diego Wave organization. This development actually happened back on October 31, 2024, but was not generally reported until last week.
The sixth plaintiff, designated “Jane Doe 2”, was a club “Ambassador” for the Wave, which is a fancy title for a part-time employee who helps out at home matches and community events. According to the amended complaint (PDF) Jane Doe 2’s supervisor was the same male employee who sexually assaulted the original Jane Doe, who is now designated “Jane Doe 1”.
The supervisor allegedly made “incessant unwanted inappropriate advances”, including “sexually explicit and harassing messages via Snapchat” to Jane Doe 2. Such messages included photos of the supervisor’s genitals. The supervisor allegedly reduced the number of Jane Doe 2’s events, which could qualify his behavior as a form of implicit quid pro quo sexual harassment.
About 16 months after being hired as an Ambassador, Jane Doe 2 was terminated under a policy that expected part-time Ambassadors to work at least two events per month.
For a longer summary of Jan Doe 2’s allegations and further details regarding the original lawsuit, see “NWSL: San Diego Wave organization sued by five former employees, League also named as defendant [Updated]”.
Quick Note
Boston 2026: Steph Yang (Bluesky profile), who was most recently a writer for The Athletic, is now the Senior Director of Communications for the expansion franchise. (Yang’s LinkedIn profile, BOSNation.com blog post)
Women's Soccer Express 