Gotham FC’s first NWSL Championship victory was sweet. The squad engineered a complete turnaround from last season, going from worst to first to put an exclamation point on captain Ali Krieger’s career.
Two other Gotham players also received a fairytale ending to the season: NWSL whistleblowers Mana Shim and Sinead Farrelly.
In late 2021, Shim and Farrelly exposed a longstanding culture of sexual coercion under their former head coach Paul Riley. Their stories of abuse led to widespread investigations and sweeping changes across the league, including changes in leadership and a groundbreaking collective bargaining agreement.
“I never really imagined that I’d have this full-circle moment and opportunity to go back as a player, and definitely not as a teammate of Sinead’s again,” Shim told The Oregonian. “I think we are both excited and this feels like a gift we are experiencing, being together again.”
Both Shim and Farrelly had retired from soccer after suffering from Riley’s mistreatment with the Portland Thorns and from injuries. But they both returned to play for Gotham together this season — and their joint comeback ended in triumph.
“I think it’s this full-circle moment of reclaiming back what we felt like we lost and the difficulties and things we’ve been through in the past with [Portland] particularly, but also just with this league,” Farrelly told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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