Women's Soccer Express

NWSL News of Note, Transfers Edition: Gotham trades forward Yazmeen Ryan to Dash, Current acquire Brazilian goalkeeper Lorena, Gotham gets Ghanian midfielder Stella Nyamekeye

Leading the notable transfers announced during the last full week of 2024 is the trade of newly minted United States Women’s National team player Yazmeen Ryan from NJ/NY Gotham FC to the Houston Dash for a record amount of allocation money, plus other consideration.

Meanwhile, the Kansas City Current have secured the services of Brazilian goalkeeper Lorena via a transfer from Brazil’s Grêmio.

Also, Gotham has added 19-year-old midfielder Stella Nyamekeye via a transfer from Dreamz Ladies FC of her native Ghana.

NWSL News of Note: Gotham-Reign trade sees Lynn Williams and Cassie Miller go west while Jaelin Howell goes east; Rocky Rodríguez traded from Angel City to Kansas City; San Francisco ratifies lease of training facility land to Bay FC; Katie Johnson retires

Headlining this Friday night edition of the notables is the confirmed trade of USWNT forward Lynn Williams from NJ/NY Gotham FC to the Seattle Reign. Joining Williams in that trade is goalkeeper Cassie Miller. Meanwhile, the Reign sent midfielder Jaelin Howell to Gotham, along with $70,000 in allocation money plus an international roster spot for the 2025 season.

One additional trade was announced on Friday: Angel City has sent Costa Rican midfielder Rocky Rodríguez to the Kansas City Current for a $100,000 intra-league transfer fee.

In other player news, former Mexican international, forward Katie Johnson, who most recently played for Angel City during this past season, announced her retirement from professional soccer.

In team news, Bay FC now has a fully approved lease of the land on Treasure Island for its dedicated training facility.

NWSL News of Note: Loera traded from Bay to Utah; USC’s Courtnall signs with Courage; Ivory moves to KC; Dash announce Briede contract; Westphal updates Dash contract; Freeman re-ups at Gotham

Leading this edition of the notables is the news that Bay’s FC first player, Alex Loera, has been traded to the Utah Royals, and that a team other than the San Diego Wave have signed a collegiate player: On Thursday, the North Carolina Courage announced the signing of Southern California defender Brooklyn Courtnall.

In other player news, the Kansas City Current officially have a goalkeeper on their books with the free agent signing of Laurel Ivory.

Additionally, the Houston Dash announced that recently acquired defender Christen Westphal has been signed a new contract that adds another year to her planned stay in Houston. The Dash also confirmed that midfielder Belle Briede, who was included in the club’s end-of-season roster, has a one-year contract for 2025. Meanwhile, Gotham FC have retained veteran defender Mandy Freeman.

In front office news, Matt Potter is officially Bay FC’s Sporting Director after holding an “interim” title since June.

NWSL News of Note: Denver takes the lead; Becky Sauerbrunn retires; Narumi Miura moves to Spirit; Angel City signs Julie Dufour and retains M.A. Vignola; Coachella teams

Leading this edition’s notables is the news that the league “is entering exclusive negotiations” with the Denver bid for the second 2026 expansion franchise.

Former USWNT defender Becky Sauerbrunn announced her retirement from professional soccer on Tuesday.

In other player news, Washington Spirit has landed free agent midfielder Narumi Miura, previously of the North Carolina Courage, while Angel City has signed 23-year-old French international Julie Dufour and re-signed defender M.A. Vignola.

Additionally, six NWSL teams have announced that will play preseason friendlies at the 2025 Coachella Valley Invitational.

UEFA Women’s Euro 2025: Group Draw and Match Schedule

On Monday, UEFA conducted the group draw for the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 and published the match schedule.

The Draw

Host Switzerland avoided the reigning champion, England (in Pot 2) as well as two other teams ranked in the top 10 of FIFA’s rankings (FIFA.com), Sweden and the Netherlands (both in Pot 3).

England (#4) ended up in Group D, with France (#11), the Netherlands (#10), and the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, Wales (#30).

Sweden (#5), the highest-ranked team that did not qualify directly via the 2023-24 Nations League, was selected into the same group as Germany (#3), Group C.

Reigning Women’s World Cup champion Spain (#2) was grouped with lowest-ranked team from Pot 2, Italy (#13), the second-lowest team in Pot 3, Belgium (#19), and its Iberian neighbor, Portugal (#22), which was the highest-ranked team in Pot 4.

The full groups:

Group A: Switzerland (host), Norway, Iceland, Finland
Group B: Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy
Group C: Germany, Poland, Denmark, Sweden
Group D: France, England, Wales, Netherlands

NWSL News of Note: Wave sign UCLA’s Quincy McMahon, Thorns acquire Brazilian Daiane, Spirit re-sign Kaylie Collins, Courage CSO departs, “Gotham FC Alliance” announced

On Friday, two clubs announced additions: The San Diego Wave have signed UCLA defender Quincy McMahon, and the Portland Thorns have acquired Brazilian center-back Daiane via a transfer from CR Flamengo.

Additionally, the Washington Spirit have retained goalkeeper Kaylie Collins for the 2025 season.

In team news, the North Carolina Courage’s front office is without a Chief Soccer Officer after the departure of Curt Johnson.

Also, Gotham FC have announced a “Gotham FC Alliance” program for youth clubs which will involve player identification and development opportunities in order “to create a professional player pathway”.

NWSL Transactions Catch-Up: Lundkvist stays with Wave; Thorns extend Hirst and McKenzie; Pikkujämsä will return to Racing; Biegalski re-ups with Red Stars; Dash retain Chapman, Harris, Hinz, and West

Lost in the buzz surrounding the 14 clubs dropping their end-of-season roster updates on Tuesday were some player transactions, a few of which were not publicized separate from the roster updates.

On Tuesday, five teams retained a total of nine additional current players:

The Chicago Red Stars have signed Camryn Biegalski to a new one-year-contract.
The Houston Dash re-signed three players — Allysha Chapman, Jyllissa Harris, and Amanda West — and optioned a fourth: Goalkeeper Heather Hinz.
Racing Louisville and Elli Pikkujämsä exercised a mutual option which should keep her in the Derby City through the 2025 NWSL season.
The Portland Thorns have retained Sophie Hirst and Mallie McKenzie via new contracts.
San Diego Wave and Hanna Lundkvist also exercised a mutual option.

For coverage of additional transactions see: “NWSL News of Note: Royals sign 15-year-old KK Ream, Wave trade Christen Westphal to Dash, Kat Asman signed by Pride, Red Bull Arena is now ‘Sports Illustrated Stadium'”.

NWSL News of Note: Royals sign 15-year-old KK Ream, Wave trade Christen Westphal to Dash, Kat Asman signed by Pride, Red Bull Arena is now “Sports Illustrated Stadium”

Here are the notables from December 10th and 11th:

On Tuesday, the only last-minute trade before end-of-season roster announcements involved the San Diego Wave sending veteran defender Christen Westphal to the Houston Dash in exchange for an international spot and allocation money.
On Wednesday, the Utah Royals announced the signing of their first U18 player, forward KK Ream, who won the 2024 Concacaf Girls Under-15 Championship as a member of the United States squad.
Also on Wednesday, the Orlando Pride announced the signing of goalkeeper Kat Asman, who recently finished her rookie season with the Portland Thorns.
In non-player news, Gotham FC’s home stadium has a new name.

Note: Recent re-signings will be covered in a separate post.

FIFA confirms dates and slot allocation for the 2027 Women’s World Cup

On Tuesday, December 10th, FIFA announced the slot allocation and dates for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which will be hosted by Brazil. Although the distribution of slots per confederation, including for the play-off tournament, remains the same, the play-off tournament will have a different format.

The first match of the 2027 WWC will kick off on Thursday, June 24, 2027, with the final being played on Sunday, July 25, 2027.

Concacaf, of which the USA is a member, will have four direct slots plus two play-off spots. The two play-off teams from Concacaf will receive byes for the first phase of the play-off tournament, so they will only have to play a single additional match in order to earn a WWC slot.

NWSL: End-Of-Season Roster Updates for All 14 Clubs (10-Dec-2024)

On Tuesday, December 10th, all 14 NWSL teams published their initial offseason rosters. This post includes the announced roster for each club, in a standardized format.

The lists for each club are organized as follows:

Currently Signed: All players signed to a contract (for at least part of 2025) but not presently loaned to another club.
Out on Loan: Signed players that have current loan agreements.
Loan Expired: Players on loan from other clubs who have returned to their home club.
In Negotiations: Free agent players that the club acknowledges as still negotiating.
Free Agents: Players with expiring contracts that have not been retained and/or with options that have not been exercised.
Retired: Players that have announced their retirements from professional club soccer.