{"id":251113,"date":"2026-07-02T21:19:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T21:19:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/02\/sam-kerrs-full-circle-return-to-gotham-speaks-to-team-league-growth-equalizer-soccer\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T21:19:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T21:19:04","slug":"sam-kerrs-full-circle-return-to-gotham-speaks-to-team-league-growth-equalizer-soccer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/02\/sam-kerrs-full-circle-return-to-gotham-speaks-to-team-league-growth-equalizer-soccer\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Kerr\u2019s \u2018full circle\u2019 return to Gotham speaks to team, league growth \u2013 Equalizer Soccer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"mvp-content-main\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<div id=\"mvp-post-feat-img\" class=\"left relative\" itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<meta itemprop=\"url\" content=\"https:\/\/equalizersoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/sam-kerr-gotham-1000x600.jpeg\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"1000\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"600\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><!--mvp-post-feat-img--><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"mvp-feat-caption\">Credit: Devon Cafaro | Gotham FC<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Sam Kerr, the National Women\u2019s Soccer League\u2019s all-time regular-season goalscoring record holder and two-time MVP, is returning to the league after spending six years at Chelsea. More than that, she\u2019s returning to Gotham FC, where she played for three seasons in her early twenties when the club was called Sky Blue FC.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Australian veteran spoke to reporters on Thursday about her move stateside. \u201cWith all the change at Chelsea and me wanting something new, I think it was really the only league that I saw myself in,\u201d she said. \u201cI had a lot of ties to the league: obviously Kristie [Mewis, Kerr\u2019s wife] is from America, and I just really enjoyed my time here, so I wanted to come back, and win some team championships hopefully.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The effort to bring Kerr to Gotham came from Yael Averbuch West, the team\u2019s President of Soccer Operations. In the winter, once the end of Kerr\u2019s contract with Chelsea was in sight, Averbuch West contacted her agent. \u201cAt the time it was a crazy vision,\u201d Averbuch West said. At first, Kerr wasn\u2019t open to the idea, but upon further conversations with the club, Kerr came around to it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m really glad she came to the same conclusion I had well before we even talked to her,\u201d Averbuch West said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course I talked to any club that was interested in me because I wanted to make sure I was making the right decision, so there was definitely other clubs involved,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cI kind of only spoke to NWSL clubs; I only saw myself really coming back to the NWSL if I was gonna make a big move out of Chelsea.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Landing at Gotham wasn\u2019t a given. \u201cEvery club that I spoke to really impressed me and I think that made it really hard to make a decision. Based on the fact that all the NWSL teams have really good infrastructure, really good players, there\u2019s so many great coaches in the league now that, it was really difficult,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI really really had to think hard about if I wanted to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chelseafc.com\/en\/news\/article\/sam-kerr-leave-chelsea-at-the-end-of-the-season\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">leave Chelsea<\/a>,\u201d she said. \u201cMy agent and Yael will tell you that it took a lot of talking off a ledge; I took it down to the wire. I think I only made my decision in early May.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Kerr sees similarities between Chelsea and Gotham, two clubs which she says are especially hungry to win titles. \u201cOne of the main parts of me joining Gotham is that I wanted to win stuff, I wanted to be a part of a winning culture, I wanted to be coached by a coach who loves to win and does everything to win,\u201d she said. \u201cGotham is probably the most similar club to Chelsea in their desires and what they want from a season, so I think it was kind of an easy choice. It helps that they have some of the best players in the league and also probably live close [to] and live in the best city in the world.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Some of the best players in the league, indeed. Kerr named a slew of Gotham players she\u2019s eager to play with: Rose Lavelle, Jaedyn Shaw, Emily Sonnett and Midge Purce. She also said she can\u2019t wait to link up with former teammates Guro Reiten and Tierna Davidson again. The team\u2019s roster is a selling point, and it\u2019s also a potential obstacle to playing time. Kerr knows that on this go-around, she\u2019s going to have to earn it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sam Kerr scores four goals in one game\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1DvesHbkmWc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWhen I was here previously as a young kid, I was striving to be the best, and I come back with a lot of experience and a lot of trophies under my belt,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I think this league has changed so much since I\u2019ve been gone that it would be naive of me to think that I was gonna come back in and have the same sort of impact straight away. I\u2019m gonna have to work my way in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That competition within the team appeals to Kerr, who wants to improve her game.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn our meetings with her and the coaches, we were breaking down clips of areas that she could still improve in her game, and she wanted that,\u201d Averbuch West said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think at the end of the season at Chelsea when I started playing consistent minutes, I showed what I could do and I have full confidence in myself that I can still play to the best of my ability, if not better,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cI\u2019ve scored scored some of the best goals I\u2019ve ever scored this year \u2014 some at the Asian Cup, some at my last game at Chelsea \u2014 and I think that just shows that if I\u2019m put in the park with the right people around me and the right coach to coach me, I can still be at the best of my ability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gotham\u2019s crowded roster spells challenges for both the coaching staff and front office.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Tactically, coach Juan Carlos Amor\u00f3s is eager to utilize his players\u2019 versatility. Averbuch West said that fans can expect to see a variety of lineups, with players expected to fulfill multiple roles over the course of the season. Still, she added, \u201cI think you guys are going to see all of the top talent on the field together. That\u2019s the objective.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amor\u00f3s is in charge of what happens on the pitch; Averbuch West\u2019s challenge lies in recruiting players and managing the books for a winning roster in a league whose salary rules put those things at odds.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt Gotham we view the salary cap as like a competitive weapon,\u201d Averbuch West said. \u201cWe are relentless in finding ways, given the rules, whether it\u2019s the cap itself, the High Impact Player Rule, all of the league rules \u2014\u00a0how can we optimize and pack the most talent into a really well balanced roster?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes, that means having to offload players to make some space, which Gotham recently did in shipping off defender Lilly Reale to Boston Legacy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have the intention of keeping as many stars as the club as possible, and obviously the salary cap is a huge challenge when it comes to navigating that,\u201d Averbuch West said. \u201cSam could have played at probably any club in the world she wanted to, and we don\u2019t take that lightly. So for us, it\u2019s about making an offer that shows respect to the player and also getting creative about what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kerr sees the fruits of Averbuch West\u2019s ambitious roster-building in the way Gotham plays. \u201cWhen you play in a team that creates a lot of goal scoring opportunities, as a no. 9, that\u2019s the number one thing that you want, and their stats over the last few years of amount of crosses into the box, amount of chances created \u2014 I think that really, stood out to me. I\u2019m only as good as the people around me, and they have some amazing players on their team,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Even surrounded by great players, coming back to the NWSL from the Women\u2019s Super League will be an adjustment for Kerr. \u201cThe NWSL is more open, it\u2019s more counterattacking, it\u2019s more physically demanding. Playing for Chelsea, we normally face low block teams unless we\u2019re playing in Europe, in the Champions League against the top teams. So it\u2019s like a different game,\u201d she said. \u201cI think most games that we played for for Chelsea, we would go in expected to win. I think in the NWSL it\u2019s a much more even playing field which is quite different and something I loved about the league when I was here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sam Kerr All 78 Career NWSL Goals (2013-2019)\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wE1BX1QzNnU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Kerr said that it makes a difference that the NWSL plays in the summer, unlike the WSL. Also, the NWSL requires more running and athleticism, she said. \u201cOne\u2019s more physical and one\u2019s more tactical, and I think that\u2019s why it\u2019s good we have so many leagues in the world now. You get a bit of everything no matter where you play,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Gotham\u2019s star-packed squad is a logical landing spot for Kerr, who is a showman through and through. \u201cI love the American star power and all of that that goes with it, whereas in England it\u2019s more like the clubs run the roost,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s just totally two different football cultures. I\u2019m excited to be back in the NWSL. I enjoyed my time in the WSL but I think it\u2019s time for a change for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Averbuch West is all for it. \u201cI hope we\u2019re going to see lots of backflips out there,\u201d she said, referring to Kerr\u2019s signature goal celebration.<\/p>\n<p>Averbuch West has locked Kerr in for many years of backflips; her contract stretches through 2030. \u201cLast time I played in the NWSL I was moving around every two years and I didn\u2019t want to do that this time,\u201d Kerr said of the long contract. \u201cI wanted to commit to somewhere and put roots down somewhere and allow myself to get comfortable in the league, get comfortable with the team that I\u2019m in. With Chelsea staying there so long I did see the rewards on the pitch. So that\u2019s my hope with this: I have sort of a stable place where I call home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Kerr also discussed her home country\u2019s domestic women\u2019s league. Late in June, the new ownership of the Central Coast Mariners announced that the club\u2019s A-League side wasn\u2019t included in the sale, leaving the team\u2019s players <a href=\"https:\/\/africa.espn.com\/football\/story\/_\/id\/49180628\/central-coast-mariners-women-limbo-sale-omission\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wondering what\u2019s next<\/a>. In light of that news, the Australia captain says she hopes that the A-League invests more into their players so that the Australian national team pool is stronger. \u201cSomething has to change because off the back of the 2023 World Cup this shouldn\u2019t be happening,\u201d Kerr said.<\/p>\n<p>When Kerr last played in the NWSL, she and her teammates were also desperate for better investment. It\u2019s a far shout from where the league is now, and she can\u2019t wait to enjoy the investment that\u2019s come through in the intervening years. It\u2019ll be a couple weeks, however. Kerr\u2019s contract with Gotham started on Wednesday, and once she is medically cleared by the league she can start training with the team, Averbuch West said. But she\u2019ll have to wait until the league\u2019s international transfer window opens on July 14 to make an appearance in a match, setting up Gotham\u2019s highly-anticipated July 15 game against the Washington Spirit at Citi Field as the first time Kerr might see the pitch.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast time I left Gotham \u2014 Sky Blue at the time \u2014\u00a0we were playing down in front of a couple thousand people and this is the type of stuff that we were fighting for: fighting to play in front of sold out stadiums, with the best facilities, with the best players, with wages that we deserved, so I feel like this is like a full circle moment for me,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cThere\u2019s so many people that have done so many amazing things over the last six years while I\u2019ve been gone that have allowed me to come back and live out my American dream.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 1 --><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!--mvp-post-tags--><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!--posts-nav-link--><\/p>\n<div class=\"mvp-org-wrap\" itemprop=\"publisher\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Organization\">\n<div class=\"mvp-org-logo\" itemprop=\"logo\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/equalizersoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/equalizerWhite-1.png\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<meta itemprop=\"url\" content=\"https:\/\/equalizersoccer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/equalizerWhite-1.png\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><!--mvp-org-logo--><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<meta itemprop=\"name\" content=\"Equalizer Soccer\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><!--mvp-org-wrap-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/equalizersoccer.com\/2026\/07\/02\/sam-kerrs-full-circle-return-gotham-team-league-growth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Credit: Devon Cafaro | Gotham FC Sam Kerr, the National Women\u2019s Soccer League\u2019s all-time regular-season goalscoring record holder and two-time MVP, is returning to the league after spending six years at Chelsea. More than that, she\u2019s returning to Gotham FC, where she played for three seasons in her early twenties when the club was called [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":251116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6805],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-251113","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-womens"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}