Leading the notables from Tuesday, January 28th, is the departure of another player from Gotham FC: Crystal Dunn and the club “have mutually agreed to part ways”. Dunn still had two years left on her now-cancelled contract.
In other player news, the Kansas City Current have re-signed two veteran players who were both free agents after the 2024 NWSL season: Forward Kristen Hamilton and center-back Elizabeth Ball.
Also, Racing Louisville is sending 19-year-old New Zealand international forward Milly Clegg to Canada’s Northern Super League for the 2025 season, where she will play for the Halifax Tides.
Additionally, the Utah Royals confirmed the loan of midfielder Emily Gray to Piteå IF for the 2025 calendar year, which was already announced by the Damallsvenskan club.
Gotham FC: Crystal Dunn released via mutual agreement
After just one season with Gotham, Crystal Dunn is now a free agent following a mutual termination of her contract. From Gotham’s press release:
Gotham FC and Crystal Dunn have mutually agreed to part ways as Dunn pursues a new opportunity, the club announced on Tuesday.
Dunn was beginning the second year of her three-year contract, which she signed as a free agent in December 2023 (Gotham press release). That signing marked a homecoming for Dunn, who was born and raised on Long Island.
In Dunn’s Instagram thank-you post, she thanked her teammates, the Cloud Nine supporters group, and fans, but did not mention Gotham FC or any of its staff.
In the 2024 NWSL season, Dunn was an “excused absence” (example availability report, archived) from Gotham for its matches during the months of October and November. She was also not named to the United States Women’s National Team’s rosters for the October and November-December international windows, but was called up for the USWNT’s January 2025 camp. No public explanation has been given for Dunn’s end-of-season absences.
Coinciding with Dunn’s signing, her husband, Pierre Soubrier, was hired by Gotham (January 2024 The Athletic article) as a “Player Pathway Consultant”. As of January 28th, his LinkedIn profile still lists Gotham FC as a present employer. In January 2023, Soubrier was fired by the Portland Thorns and suspended by the NWSL for one season for administering medication that contained codeine without a prescription, including to at least one player without her informed consent (NWSL press release).
Except for one year with Chelsea, Dunn has played her entire professional career in the NWSL, beginning with the Washington Spirit in the 2014. After being drafted first overall, Dunn played three seasons with the Spirit. In 2015, she led the league in goals scored and was voted the Most Valuable Player.
Following one year in England, Dunn returned to the States for the 2018 NWSL season, first playing for the North Carolina Courage through 2020 and then the Portland Thorns through the 2023 season. With the Courage and Thorns, Dunn has lifted three NWSL Championship trophies and three NWSL Shields.
For the USWNT, Dunn has 155 appearances and has scored 25 goals (USWNT stats). After her controversial omission from the USA’s squad for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Dunn won the 2019 WWC with the USA and recently won a Gold Medal with the USWNT in the 2024 Paris Olympics. As a youth international, she assisted on the USA’s game-winning goal in the final of the 2012 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup.
Dunn played NCAA soccer at the University of North Carolina and won a NCAA College Cup with the Tar Heels in 2012. That year she also won the MAC Hermann Trophy as the best NCAA Division I women’s soccer player.
Kansas City Current: Two free agents re-signed
The Current now have 26 players under contract for the 2025 NWSL season after inking new deals with two veteran players, who were both free agents after the 2024 season: 32-year-old forward Kristen Hamilton and 29-year-old defender Elizabeth Ball. Both players had been with the Current since their inaugural season in 2021. (January 28th press release)
See also: The Current’s original preseason roster (15-Jan-2025).
Kristen Hamilton: Through 2025 with 2026 mutual option
Hamilton appeared in just four regular season matches during the 2024 NWSL season, scoring in the Current’s opening match, a 5:4 win over the Portland Thorns. (NWSL game log)
Entering her 12th year in the NWSL, Hamilton joined Kansas City via a trade from the North Carolina Courage during their inaugural season. She was drafted by the Western New York Flash in 2014 and relocated with the franchise ahead of the 2017 season, when it became the North Carolina Courage. Between the Flash and the Courage, Hamilton has three NWSL Championship rings.
Before turning pro, Hamilton played NCAA soccer at the University of Denver, where she scored 51 goals and registered 36 assists. (2019 Denver women’s soccer press release).
Hamilton has one appearance for the United States Women’s National Team.
Hamilton’s previous contract was signed ahead of the 2022 NWSL season and did not have an option (December 2021 press release).
Elizabeth Ball: Through 2026 with 2027 mutual option
During the 2024 regular season, Ball had 11 starts before the Olympic break (NWSL game log). In that stretch, she scored the game-winner in a 1-nil victory against the new Utah Royals and also had three assists.
However, after the Olympics, Ball had just one regular season start, primarily due to the acquisitions of center-backs Alana Cook from the Seattle Reign and Kayla Sharples from Bay FC.
Ball is one of just two players who has been with the Kansas City Current since before their first season, when the player assets of the original Utah Royals were transferred to the new Kansas City franchise.
Undrafted in 2018, Ball later signed with the Portland Thorn and played two seasons with the club before being traded to the original Utah Royals.
Ball played four seasons of collegiate soccer at Penn State (player profile), including their 2015 NCAA Championship season. As a Nittany Lion, she started 92 of 95 matches. Four of her nine goals were game-winners.
The other center-back who started a majority of the pre-Olympics matches for the Current, Stine Ballisager Pedersen (NWSL game log), was also a free agent after the 2024 season and recently signed with Italy’s Fiorentina (press release).
Like Hamilton, Ball also signed an optionless three-year contract after the 2021 season (December 2021 press release).
Racing Louisville: New Zealand international Milly Clegg loaned to Halifax Tides for 2025
On Tuesday, Racing announced that forward Milly Clegg has been loaned to the Halifax Tides of Canada’s new Northern Super League. The loan is for the 2025 calendar year. (Racing press release, Halifax press release)
Clegg was signed by Racing in January 2024 to a three-year contract, but was rehabbing a leg injury (January 2024 press release) and did not appear on a gameday roster until May. She was on the bench for six matches before the Olympic break plus three matches afterwards and appeared in her first NWSL match as a substitute in Racing’s final match of the season (NWSL game log). In August and September, Clegg was unavailable for some matches as she was playing in the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup for New Zealand.
Clegg, who turned 19 last November, already has 12 senior caps for the New Zealand Women’s National Team, as well as one goal, which was scored against Japan. Clegg was a member of the Football Ferns squads for both the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympics. At the Olympics, she played in all three of New Zealand’s matches, with two starts.
Utah Royals: Club confirms loan of Emily Gray to Piteå IF
After being announced by Piteå IF via an Instagram last Friday, the Royals have officially confirmed, via a press release, the loaning of midfielder Emily Gray to the Damallsvenskan club for the 2025 calendar year.
Gray was previously on loan to Odense Boldklub Q in Denmark’s Kvindeliga for the second half of 2024. Over 14 matches in Denmark, Gray tallied three goals and registered two assists while averaging 85-plus minutes of playing time per match. Before that loan, Gray had two regular seasons appearances as a late substitute for the Royals. (NWSL game log)
Gray joined the Royals through a trade with the North Carolina Courage, who drafted her third overall in 2022. (November 2023 press release) She played four seasons of NCAA soccer at Virginia Tech (player profile), where she started all 69 of her matches and scored 27 goals while registering 24 assists.
Gray attended about a dozen United States youth national camps across the U-14 to U-20 levels.
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