NWSL is returning to Kansas City

Kansas City will be getting an NWSL franchise.

The National Women’s Soccer League released a statement Monday morning confirming that the league’s board of governors did approve an expansion team in KC that will begin play in 2021.

In a club statement issued Sunday evening, the club said, “This transaction provides clarity on where our remarkable and talented women will play soccer next year, while enabling new ownership to re-establish the Utah Royals FC name and franchise at Rio Tinto Stadium two years from now, in 2023.”

The relocation of the Utah franchise became prominent because of the hugely controversial comments of former owner Dell Loy Hansen, which stirred him into some very hot water with both the Utah Royals and his MLS team Real Salt Lake.

The ownership group is compromised of mostly female industry leaders, making KC the first female majority ownership group actively playing. They will be led by Angie and Chris Long of Kansas City-based Palner Square Capital Management and will also include former professional soccer player Brittany Matthews, the fiancée of Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes. The club’s president will be Jen Gulvik, a marketing and creative executive.

NWSL’s statement also confirmed that all player rights, draft picks, and certain other assets formerly held by Utah will be transferred to KC. Among the first management decisions, the new ownership group named Huw Williams the team’s head coach. Williams served as the General Manager for FC Kansas City during their time in KC and has been a prominent figure across youth soccer in Kansas City for many years. There is no doubt that he will be able and willing to bring in some of the local talent currently scattered throughout the league back to KC.

Kansas City’s original NWSL team was originally founded as FC Kansas City ahead of the inaugural NWSL season in 2013. FCKC played out of Shawnee Mission District Stadium in Overland Park, KS before moving to UMKC’s Durwood Soccer Stadium for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. The Blues moved to Swope Soccer Village, with occasional games at Children’s Mercy Park, for their final two years in KC before relocating to Utah.

Throughout their five-season stint in Kansas City, they were managed by Vlatko Andonovski, who led them to back-to-back championships in 2014 and 2015. With Andonovski still living in KC and serving as the USWNT head coach, he will likely be in attendance at many of the games of the new franchise. That can only help to draw more USWNT-hopefuls to the franchise.

The franchise relocated to Utah ahead of the 2018 season, where they finished fifth in the league in 2018 and 2019 as well as in the 2020 Challenge Cup before finishing last in the 2020 regular season. Of the 22 players currently on Utah’s roster, six of them played for FCKC including Amy Rodriguez, Nicole Barnhart, Desiree Scott, Brittany Ratcliffe, Lo’eau LaBonta, and Katie Bowen.

Perhaps the greatest question would be where will they play?

So, where will they play?

It is unlikely that the franchise would return to any of their previous spots because of U.S. Soccer’s capacity rules and Sporting KC not interested in opening up their stadium for a third professional soccer team to play at Children’s Mercy Park.

FOX 4 reported that the organization is looking at using T-Bones Stadium on a temporary basis and building a stadium near the old Schlitterbahn Waterpark. T-Bones Stadium seems like the best option for the near future, with more time to build a good facility at Schlitterbahn over the course of the coming years.

In an ideal world, I would like to see the franchise work with Sporting KC and develop a stadium to host both the NWSL franchise as well as Sporting KC’s USL Championship team, Sporting KC II.