NWSL Week in Review: Savy King traded from Bay FC to Angel City, Abuse scandal settlement announced

Topping last week’s notables is the news that the National Women’s Soccer League has agreed to a settlement agreement with the Attorneys General of New York, Illinois, and the District of Columbia. The settlement agreement was a result of a joint investigation into the NWSL in the wake of the player abuse scandal. That scandal eventually led to the Yates Report (PDF) and a separate report produced by the NWSL and the NWSL Players Association (PDF).

In player transactions…

  • The lead story is the trade of defender Savy King from Bay FC to Angel City for a $300,000 transfer fee that will be paid over two seasons.
  • Meanwhile, the top story from the East Coast is Gotham FC re-signing free agent forward Midge Purce.
  • Bay FC signed rookie midfielder Hannah Bebar, who will not immediately join the club as she is finishing a master’s degree at Duke University.
  • Down in SoCal, Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson is now under contract through the 2028 season.
  • South African international Linda Motlhalo‘s second stint in the NWSL has ended after she and Racing Louisville agreed to a mutual contract termination.
  • The Washington Spirit are loaning rookie midfielder Deborah Abiodun and Brazilian forward Tamara Bolt to the USL Super League’s Dallas Trinity for the 2025 calendar year.
  • Olympique Lyonnais center-back Kysha Sylla is being sent on loan to the Spirit for one year.

In team news, the Portland Thorns have announced a shared performance center with the new WNBA franchise.

Also, the Utah Royals have added two unannounced non-roster invitees.

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Settlement agreement establishes $5 million restitution fund for players affected by abuse and misconduct

On Wednesday, February 5th, the NWSL Players Association and the Attorneys General of New York, Illinois, and the District of Columbia announced a civil settlement with the NWSL (PDF) in which the league agreed (1) to implement specific changes at the league and team levels; (2) to submit to oversight and monitoring from the Attorneys General for a period of three years; and (3) to pay $5 million into a restitution fund for current and former players impacted by “Serious Misconduct Involving Player Safety”.

According to the NWSLPA’s press release, most of the provisions specified in the settlement agreement have already been previously adopted, including recommendations from the 2022 NWSL and NWSLPA Joint Investigative Team report (PDF).

The most eye-catching aspect of the settlement is the Players’ Restitution Fund. Up to $5 million dollars will be distributed to players, both current and former, impacted by “Serious Misconduct Involving Player Safety”. That term was not defined in the 31-page settlement agreement, but is defined in a nonpublic “Fund Protocol” document. Part of the $5 million is earmarked for two unnamed players who have already settled. Those two players “may be paid in the net amount of $1 million from the Fund”.

Appointed to administer the Players’ Restitution Fund is former federal judge U.S. District Judge Barbara S. Jones, who has been in private practice for over a decade (law firm bio). Per the NWSL’s press release, the restitution fund, once it is set up and approved, will accept applications for six months. Any unclaimed funds will be donated to the NWSLPA’s Emergency and Charity Fund.

Additionally, if the league fails to sufficiently implement any required changes and/or fails to pay into the restitution fund, the league could be assessed a $2 million penalty.

Press releases: NWSLPA, NWSL, District of Columbia, Illinois, New York State

• • •

Amazon’s Prime Video will distribute 2024 NWSL playoffs docuseries

Last Tuesday (press release), the league announced that Prime Video will distribute a documentary series focused on the 2024 NWSL playoffs, which was won by the Orlando Pride.

The project is tentatively titled “For the Win: NWSL” and will consist of four episodes that will feature “exclusive interviews, locker-room access, and… match highlights”, so at least some parts of the docuseries have already been filmed.

Retired USWNT forward Alex Morgan and Gotham FC investor Eli Manning (Gotham profile) will have executive producer credits for the project.

Player Transactions

Trade: Bay FC sends Savy King to Angel City for staggered $300,000 transfer fee

Last Monday, defender Savy King got an early birthday present: A trade to her hometown team, Angel City from the team that drafted her #2 overall, Bay FC. King, who turned 20 on Friday, spent just one season in the Bay Area.

In exchange for King, Angel City sent $200,000 in 2025 intra-league transfer funds to Bay FC. ACFC will send another $100,000 of intra-league transfer funds in 2026. It also agreed to a 10% sell-on fee to Bay FC. (press releases: Bay FC, Angel City)

King’s departure from Bay FC is not exactly a surprise move. Out of her 12 starts in 2024, only three came after Memorial Day (King’s NWSL game log).

Leapfrogging King on Albertin Montoya’s depth chart for left outside-back was Alyssa Malonson, who had 13 starts during the same period (Malonson’s NWSL game log) and earned her first call up to the USWNT in October.

King did miss a handful of matches, including all of September, due to the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup, so hers and Malonson’s numbers are not fully comparable. Also, for a few Bay FC matches, King was utilized on the right flank in place of Caprice Dydasco.

The move to Angel City may not necessarily mean more starts and playing time for King. At the outside-back position, she will be competing with 28-year-old Miyabi Moriya, who was acquired in late January, 34-year-old Merritt Mathias, and her U-20 WWC teammate, Gisele Thompson. The 37-year-old Ali Riley is also on the books for ACFC, but has a lingering nerve issue and finished last year on the season-ending injury list.

King and Thompson were both called into January’s “Futures Camp”.

Although primarily a left outside-back, King does have experience as a center-back from her one season in North Carolina’s three-back system (UNC profile).

King’s existing NWSL contract runs through the 2026 season (Bay FC press release).

In addition to playing in the 2024 FIFA U-20 WWC, King also played in the 2022 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup as well as the Concacaf qualifying tournaments for both match.

• • •

Gotham FC: Forward Midge Purce signs one-year contract

Seven-year NWSL veteran Midge Purce will remain with Gotham FC for at least one more season. On Wednesday (February 5th press release), the club announced that the forward, who is utilized primarily on the flanks, had signed a new contract and will be joining Gotham’s preseason training camp in Spain.

Purce missed almost all of the 2024 NWSL season after suffering an ACL injury in Gotham’s first regular season match on March 24, 2024 (Gotham press release).

Before the injury, Purce was in the mix for making the United States Women’s National Team squad for the Olympics, which could have been her first senior FIFA tournament. Purce was on the USA’s squad for the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup and registered two assists over five appearances (2024 USWNT stats).

A Gotham player since 2020, Purce won an NWSL Championship with the club in 2023. In that year’s final, she assisted on both of Gotham’s goals, becoming only the second player to ever do so in an NWSL championship match.

Before the NWSL, Purce played four seasons of NCAA soccer at Harvard (player profile), In 2020, she was elected to Harvard’s Board of Overseers (gocrimson.com).

• • •

Bay FC adds rookie midfielder Hannah Bebar

On Friday, Bay FC announced the signing of midfielder Hannah Bebar, who was called into last month’s senior United States Women’s National Team camp after Lynn Biyendolo (née Williams) was withdrawn due to a minor injury.

Bebar, who was signed to a three-year contract, will join Bay FC in the spring after finishing up her ten-month master’s degree at Duke, where she played for the Blue Devils in 2024 as a graduate transfer after three seasons at Harvard.

Hannah Bebar

  • Position: Midfielder
  • Height: 5’4″
  • Age: 23 (born 5-Sep-2001)
  • Hometown: Naperville, Illinois
  • FIFA Eligibilities: USA
  • NCAA Teams: Duke (2024), Harvard (2021-2023)
  • NCAA Career Stats:
    • Duke: started 22 of 22 matches, with 3 goals and 5 assists (1 season)
    • Harvard: started 45 of 46 matches, with 17 goals and 25 assists (3 seasons
  • NWSL Contract Details: Signed through 2027
  • Press Release: “Bay FC Signs Three-Time All-American Hannah Bebar to First Professional Contract” (7-Feb-2025)
  • U.S. YNT Experience: attended at least 18 camps from the U-15 to U-23 levels, played in the 2018 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup and its Concacaf qualifying tournament
  • January 2025 Futures Camp: No (but was called into full USWNT camp as injury replacement for Lynn Biyendolo)
  • Notables: Only played three years at Harvard as her freshman season was canceled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Her 25 career assists at Harvard is tied for sixth-best in program history.

• • •

Angel City: Goalkeeper Angelina Anderson extends through 2028

Newly installed general manager Mark Parsons has secured the goalkeeping services of Angelina Anderson for three additional years (February 7th press release).

With the departure of DiDi Haračić via free agency, the 5’11” Anderson, who was recently called into her first USWNT camp, is in prime position to be Angel City’s starting goalkeeper for 2025 and beyond. At the moment, ACFC only has one other goalkeeper signed, Hannah Stambaugh, who has yet to feature in a regular season match, and is only under contract through 2025.

In 2024, Anderson started Angel City’s first three regular season matches. At the end of the previous season, she started five of the team’s last six matches. (NWSL game log)

Prior to turning pro, Anderson played four seasons of collegiate soccer with the California Golden Bears (player profile), where she started all 72 of her matches and allowed only 65 goals.

At the youth international level, Anderson started all three matches for the USA at the 2018 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup and was a late replacement for Hillary Beall on the USA’s roster for that year’s FIFA U-20 WWC.

Anderson’s previous NWSL contract was signed in October 2023 (ACFC press release via OurSportCentral.com).

• • •

Racing Louisville: South African international Linda Motlhalo departs after one season

On Friday, Racing announced that 26-year-old midfielder Linda Motlhalo has “agreed to a mutual contract termination” (press release). Motlhalo played just three official regular season minutes in 2024 (NWSL stats).

Motlhalo was acquired from Glasgow City FC ahead of the 2024 season and was signed to a two-year contract (January 2024 press release). She previously played one season in the NWSL with the Houston Dash back in 2018. That year, she featured in 21 matches and averaged 85 minutes per appearance.

At the international level, Motlhalo was a member of South Africa’s squads for the 2016 Summer Olympics plus the 2019 and 2023 FIFA WWCs.

According to an SABC article, Motlhalo is currently training with her former club, JVW FC, which was founded by retired South African international Janine van Wyk.

• • •

Washington Spirit: Two players loaned out, one player loaned in

At the end of last week, the Spirit announced three loan transactions for the calendar year. On Friday, the club revealed that it will loan rookie midfielder Deborah Abiodun and Brazilian forward Tamara Bolt to the USL Super League’s Dallas Trinity, which recently signed Texas standout Lexi Missimo. The loan agreements for Abiodun and Bolt included recall clauses (Bluesky post), so one or both players could return to the Spirit this season, if needed.

One day earlier, on Thursday, the Spirit announced that they have received 21-year-old French youth international Kysha Sylla from Olympique Lyonnais Féminin, which is also majority-owned by Michele Kang. Prior to going on loan, Sylla signed a contract extension with Lyon through June 2027 (ol.fr news item).

The 5’8″ Sylla is now described as a center-back, but started out as a midfielder (ol.fr bio).

At the youth international level, Sylla (fff.fr profile) has played four Under-23 matches in 2024. She appeared in three matches at the 2022 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup.

As both the Spirit and Lyon are majority-owned by Kang, Sylla’s loan is subject to the terms of the NWSL’s “Related Party Transactions” rules (PDF).

Press releases:

Team News

Portland Thorns announce joint performance center with new WNBA franchise

rendering of entrance area of the the Portland training facility

On Thursday, RAJ Sports, which owns the Portland Thorns and was recently awarded a WNBA franchise for Portland, announced plans for a joint training campus for both teams (February 6th Thorns press release).

The shared 12-acre campus will be a redevelopment of part of a suburban office complex in Hillsboro, Oregon (Google Maps, tax map PDF) that was once occupied by Nike. RAJ Sports signed a fifteen-year lease for two of the complex’s four buildings, 3220 and 3340 NE Aloclek Drive, plus surrounding land (Workspace Property Trust press release).

The campus will have two full-sized soccer pitches as well as “an outdoor training zone”. (This may be the covered grass corridor that was featured in one of the renderings.) The 63,000 square-foot training facility building will be larger than Angel City’s new facility, which has about 50,000 square feet of indoor space. A 17,000 square-foot gym with two full-size basketball courts will also be built.

The first phase of the project is slated to be ready ahead of the Thorns’s 2026 season.

• • •

Utah Royals add Utah State’s Kaitlyn Richins and U-17 youth international Addie Feldman as non-roster invitees

In a match report for a preseason friendly against United City FC, two previously unannounced invitees were mentioned: Utah State defender Kaitlyn Richins (USU profile) and Addison “Addie” Feldman, who plays for Utah Celtic FC in the Girls Academy.

Richins was named in an earlier version of the Utah Royals’s press release, which was captured by Google’s search crawler (see screenshot below), but not in the current online version.

Google search result entry showing the original text of the edited match report

Richins only became a regular starter for Utah State as of the 2024 season, when she was moved from the midfield to the center-back position (Utah State press release). Richins redshirted her freshman year, so she should still have a year of NCAA eligibility left.

Feldman has played youth international matches at the Under-16 level. Her most recent U.S. youth national team call-up was the first U-17 camp of the 2024-2025 cycle, back in September 2024. Feldman posted an announcement about her Utah Royals invite to her x.com account on January 31st.