Angel City FC
The biggest question surrounding Angel City is who will lead the club permanently. Interim head coach Leif Gunnar Smerud has lost only twice in ten matches, including four victories, and has moved the club to within two points of the final playoff place.
Angel City’s 5-2 victory over Boston Legacy on August 31 set a new single-season scoring record, with Prisca Chilufya scoring twice and Sveindís Jónsdóttir adding her seventh goal of the season. Ally Sentnor and Maiara Niehues also scored as Angel City raced into a 3-1 lead inside 18 minutes.
Smerud said afterwards: “We wanted to build on what we have been doing well. We wanted to bounce back and we wanted to attack the backline. We knew we could hurt them with Sveindís and Prisca, and we managed to do that. I’m really happy and proud of the performance tonight. It was dominant.”
Former Australian international Dario Vidosic has been linked with the permanent position after resigning from Brighton & Hove Albion, but his reported arrival would not be until February 2027. That creates an awkward situation if Smerud guides Angel City into the playoffs.
The club has already experienced the consequences of an interim coach succeeding, only to be dismissed later. Becki Tweed led Angel City into the 2023 playoffs but was let go after the team missed out the following year. The NWSL increasingly seems to be asking assistants to carry clubs through difficult periods while waiting for highly regarded overseas coaches to finish their existing commitments.
Angel City’s younger squad, assembled by general manager Mark Parsons, is beginning to produce better results. Jónsdóttir and Niehues lead the scoring, while 21-year-old Evelyn Shores has supplied four assists.
Bay FC
Bay FC have brought Jenna Nighswonger back to the NWSL after a disappointing spell in England. The U.S. international defender joined Arsenal from Gotham FC in January 2025 for approximately $100,000 but made only five appearances for the club before spending the second half of the 2025-26 season on loan at Aston Villa.
Bay FC have reportedly paid around $200,000 for her return. Nighswonger was the 2023 NWSL Rookie of the Year and helped Gotham win the 2023 championship before becoming an Olympic gold medallist with the United States in 2024.
Regular playing time will be important for her international prospects, with the 2027 World Cup approaching.
Bay have also signed Argentine international Agostina Holzheier and extended the loan of Italian legend Cristiana Girelli from Juventus until June 2027. Girelli has won ten Italian league titles, nine Italian Cups and twelve Italian Super Cups, while earning 130 international caps and scoring 62 goals for Italy.
“I’m grateful to my teammates, the staff, and our supporters for making me feel so welcome,” Girelli said. “Scoring my first goal for the club was a moment of massive joy, but what means most to me is continuing to contribute to this team and helping us push forward together.”
Boston Legacy
Boston Legacy will remain at Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, for the 2027 season before moving into the renovated White Stadium in Boston in 2028.
The decision follows a ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that cleared the legal path for the stadium project. Boston Legacy owner Jennifer Epstein said the club had always wanted to create a permanent home for professional women’s football and youth sport.
Construction is progressing, with structural steel and underground utilities now being installed. The completed stadium will have 10,500 seats and a natural grass pitch.
The club has also strengthened its roster. Brazilian defender Laís Araújo, who captains the team, has had her contract extended for 2027, while American defender Deja Davis joined from Paris FC on a contract running through the end of 2028.
Davis, who spent seven years with Le Havre before moving to Paris, said: “My intention was to be here and be at the beginning of something, and help the team make a name in the NWSL. I’m also pretty close to home, so it’s my chance to have my family come to games.”
Chicago Stars
Chicago Stars are rebuilding once again after dismissing head coach Martin Sjögren and assistant Anders Jacobson in August. Karina Báez has taken over as interim head coach, while former coach Lorne Donaldson has returned as interim director of coaching.
Donaldson led Chicago from last place in 2023 to the playoffs in 2024, but was dismissed after a poor start the following season. His return is intended to restore confidence and stability.
Stars president Karen Leetzow described his value clearly: “Loren brings us back the joy in the game, he brings the positive culture to the environment. He’s the guy, as the young kids say, ‘has got the vibe right.’”
Nicole Lukic has also joined the coaching staff after working with U.S. Soccer’s youth national teams and Spokane Zephyr. Leetzow said the appointment reflected a need to improve individual player development rather than simply reacting to Lukic’s short spell in Spokane.
The club is searching for a new general manager after Richard Feuz’s departure in May. Leetzow acknowledged that previous decisions had not worked and said the next structure would involve more people, including players, in selecting senior sporting staff.
“We need to focus on building the infrastructure from the ground up with best-in-class employees,” she said. “Looking back, and as I learn and we grow, we have plugged the vacancies but we haven’t perhaps looked at it holistically as we need to.”
Chicago have also added Spanish defender Oihane Valdezate from Roma and brought Simone Charley back to the NWSL from Brooklyn FC. German international Kathrin Hendrich has returned to Europe with FC Köln, while Colombian forward Ivonne Chacón has moved to Fiorentina.
The Stars remain last in the standings, and Leetzow admitted that the club must repair its reputation if it is to attract free agents.
“We want the players to feel good about being here,” she said. “We might be at the bottom of the table but the club, as it exists, is not a bottom-of-the-table team. We should have been doing better.”
Denver Summit
Denver Summit have signed experienced English defender Gemma Bonner through the end of the season. Bonner has made more than 360 professional appearances and won two Women’s Super League titles with Liverpool.
The club has also loaned French international goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin to Crystal Palace. Peyraud-Magnin has represented France at several major tournaments and won 26 trophies during her career, including the UEFA Women’s Champions League with Lyon.
Gotham FC
Gotham remain top of the league despite losing U.S. international defender Emily Sonnett to a season-ending knee injury.
Spanish World Cup winner Esther González has also left the club to return home for personal reasons. She later signed for Al Qadsiah in Saudi Arabia.
González was central to Gotham’s success, scoring the winning goal in the 2023 championship final and helping the club win another title and the CONCACAF W Champions Cup in 2025. Her departure is a significant loss for the NWSL’s international quality.
Manager Juan Carlos Amorós also took five weeks of paternity leave following the birth of his second child, an important example in a sport where parental leave for male coaches remains uncommon.
Houston Dash
Houston have shown considerable improvement since the World Cup break, collecting three wins and three draws between July 12 and August 19. Their late scoring has been a defining feature, with twelve of their goals coming in the final fifteen minutes.
Rookies Kat Rader, Kate Fasse and Linda Ullmark have contributed twelve of the team’s goals. Canadian forward Clarissa Larisey has also found better form after discussions with head coach Fabrice Gautrat about remaining calm in front of goal.
The Dash have added Serbian international Miljana Ivanović and Minnesota graduate Khyah Harper, while midfielder Emina Ekić has moved to Parma in Italy.
Kansas City Current
Kansas City’s second team won the WPSL Championship in its first competitive season since 2022. Current II completed an unbeaten campaign, winning the Heartland Division, Midwest Conference and Central Regional titles before defeating New York Athletic Club in the national final.
Avery Clark was named the competition’s Most Outstanding Player after scoring sixteen goals, while Austrian defender Naila Schoefberger earned the defensive award.
The senior Current also made an important signing, bringing in Cameroon international Maëva Nyadjou through 2029. The 19-year-old was named Best Young Player and selected for the Best XI at the 2026 WAFCON, scoring the winning goal against Nigeria in the quarter-finals and helping Cameroon win its first African title.
“Playing in the NWSL has always been a dream of mine,” Nyadjou said. “I look forward to training with and competing against some of the best players in the world.”
For Kansas City, it is another indication of the league’s growing international reach. For Chicago, meanwhile, the challenge is rather different: building an organisation that players, coaches and supporters once again believe in.
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