Mana Shim and Sinead Farrelly will be back in Portland as players Saturday for the first time since their returns to soccer.

Both are now members of NJ/NY Gotham FC, and their return to the sport, together, has been a full-circle moment in in its own right. But this will be their first time returning to Providence Park since they spoke out on alleged abuses they suffered while playing for the Thorns.

That moment in 2021 forever changed the NWSL, for the better. Shim and Farrelly’s account, published in The Athletic, spurred a reckoning throughout the NWSL, leading to widespread abuse investigations, new leadership and and a groundbreaking collective bargaining agreement.

Farrelly, who retired in 2016, and Shim, who retired in 2018, returned to play for Gotham FC in 2023. Also, in addition to playing for Gotham, Shim serves as the chairperson of U.S. Soccer’s Participant Safety Taskforce.

“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.

“I love Portland, and I’ve always loved Portland. It’s a fun thing to go in there and play when you’re not the home team, and I look forward to that, because I haven’t done it yet. Overall, I think it’s just going to be an exciting, full-circle moment.”

For her part, Farrelly has also fallen in love with the game...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiZ2h0dHBzOi8vanVzdHdvbWVuc3Nwb3J0cy5j...