<Clears dust off this threads> Whew, it's been a while hasn't it? Can't say I have any major live events that kept me off this thread and board in the last 3-6 months. Mostly I think just the lack of engagement from the team and league as a whole just took it's toll on me. I'll try to muster up some excitement for the coming season but it's gonna be an uphill climb especially given other competing interest like the EPL and the upcoming world cup. That said I guess a good place to start is an updated squad list. We didn't have any draft picks yesterday but it was really not that big of a deal escpecially if we didn't have a top 3 pick as the quality dropped significantly after that. Also, the average minutes of rookies in this league have been on a steady decline year after year so the draft is becoming less and less important. Internationals: 6/4 Squad size: 25/22 (4) Exercise option Signed new contract Federation player Offered new contract Unknown status Released Goalkeepers (2) Lydia Williams Michelle Betos Defense (9) Yael Averbuch (CB) Lauren Barnes (CB) Steph Catley (LB) (i) Celia Jimenez Delgado (LB)(i) Alyssa Kleiner (RB) Kristen McNabb (CB) Theresa Nielsen (RB) (i) Megan Oyster (CB) Christen Westphal (RB) Maddie Bauer (CB) Midfield (6) Elizabeth Addo (CM)(i) Morgan Andrews (CM) Jessica Fishlock (CM) Elise Kellond-Knight (CM)(i) Allie Long - (CM) Rumi Utsugi (LM) (i) Forwards (8) Kiersten Dallstream (F) Darian Jenkins (F) Jaycie Johnson (F) Nahomi Kawasumi (RF) (i) Megan Rapinoe (LF) Jasmine Spencer (F) Jodie Taylor (CF) Beverly Yanez (CF) Adrianna Leon
Ok so my gut was teling me we haven't made a lot of player moves but after gathering info from twitter and the team "website", am even more shocked that we 2 months out from preseason and so far we only have 1-ish outgoing player (Leon, Bauer) and 3 incoming players (Jenkins, Kellond-Knight, Delgado). Am not sure whats going on with Bauer as I can't find anything on her status. She's not in the list of players who options were exercised or offered new contract. I also don't see any press release of her been waived. Anyway moving on. We carried somewhat of a bloated squad last year due to the amount of Boston players we carried (Oyster, Westphal, Addo Andrews). I think all these players deserved their spots on this team this year so am glad to see that we offered them new ocntracts. Though it is a tad concerning that Oyster have not yet sign her contract. If there any player on this team that we absolutely need other than Fishlock and Rapinoe, it is Oyster. On the flip side, I find it strange that we offered new contracts to Averbuch and Dallstream. Our forward depth is excessive and with recent signing of Jenkins, Johnson returning to health and rumors of interest in Groom, I don't see where Dallstream fits even with the increased roster size and world cup. Likewise for Averbuch who I think have a better chance in the front office of this organization than on the pitch. That been said, I think if we can find suitable takers (NOT SBFC or to a lesser extend Washington) for Averbuch, Dallstream, Yanez, Kleiner, Spencer, Kawasumi, etc, we should make that trade.
Thanks for opening the new thread, @Blaze20! The rumours about Naho being dumped to Sky Blue are the saddest ones to me, so far (unless she was ok with it). We're going to see how things are going to develop in the next weeks.
The Kawasumi for Groom trade is now complete. From Naho's statement it seems like she may play for SBFC but who knows. As I have already said before, I don't like this trade for the fact that Naho deserves better then SBFC so for her sake I really wish her all the best on the east coast. Updated roster. Internationals: 5/4 Squad size: 25/22 (4) Exercise option Signed new contract Federation player Offered new contract Unknown status Released Goalkeepers (2) Lydia Williams Michelle Betos Defense (9) Yael Averbuch (CB) Lauren Barnes (CB) Steph Catley (LB) (i) Celia Jimenez Delgado (LB)(i) Alyssa Kleiner (RB) Kristen McNabb (CB) Theresa Nielsen (RB) (i) Megan Oyster (CB) Christen Westphal (RB) Maddie Bauer (CB) Midfield (6) Elizabeth Addo (CM)(i) Morgan Andrews (CM) Jessica Fishlock (CM) Elise Kellond-Knight (CM)(i) Allie Long - (CM) Rumi Utsugi (LM) (i) Forwards (8) Kiersten Dallstream (F) Shea Groom (RF) Darian Jenkins (F) Jaycie Johnson (F) Megan Rapinoe (LF) Jasmine Spencer (F) Jodie Taylor (CF) Beverly Yanez (CF) Nahomi Kawasumi (RF) (i) Adrianna Leon
She was waived on July 17th and went to Sweden, signed the next day with Djurgårdens. The suggestion was she was frustrated at a lack of playing time. I was sad to see her go.
Very sad to see Naho go. We really need Groom's speed and skill up front, it's going to take me awhile to get used to her in a Reign jersey but i do think she's matured a bit.
Oyster is key!!! I'm trying not to worry about her not being signed yet, Vlatko likes her right???? She was so important in 2018 i really want to see her on the back line in 2019.
We should NOT trade Spencer. She's amazing and we need to keep her. I have been expecting an Averbuch retirement but since we haven't heard that i wonder if she has her medical issues in control. If so she could be a useful presence in the midfield, but i doubt she's back to starter quality. Fishlock will be a minor player this year, both because she won't be joining the team until June and because her carreer is clearly winding down. I'm thrilled we will have another year of her, but for the first time the team won't be built around her. I think Yanez has one more year in her.
Updated the list to reflect Yanez signing the new contract. That means the only outstanding offers to be signed are Oyster, Dallstream and Averbuch. Internationals: 5/4 Squad size: 25/22 (4) Exercise option Signed new contract Federation player Offered new contract Unknown status Released Goalkeepers (2) Lydia Williams Michelle Betos Defense (9) Yael Averbuch (CB) Lauren Barnes (CB) Steph Catley (LB) (i) Celia Jimenez Delgado (LB)(i) Alyssa Kleiner (RB) Kristen McNabb (CB) Theresa Nielsen (RB) (i) Megan Oyster (CB) Christen Westphal (RB) Maddie Bauer (CB) Midfield (6) Elizabeth Addo (CM)(i) Morgan Andrews (CM) Jessica Fishlock (CM) Elise Kellond-Knight (CM)(i) Allie Long - (CM) Rumi Utsugi (LM) (i) Forwards (8) Kiersten Dallstream (F) Shea Groom (RF) Darian Jenkins (F) Jaycie Johnson (F) Megan Rapinoe (LF) Jasmine Spencer (F) Jodie Taylor (CF) Beverly Yanez (CF) Nahomi Kawasumi (RF) (i) Adrianna Leon
Oh nice. I did not look at news that far back so couldn't remember. I'll update the chat. Also Megan Oyster have signed the new contract. So only outstanding offers are to Averbuch and Dallstream. The Reign have re-signed Megan Oyster for the 2019 season.— Chris Henderson (@chris_awk) January 16, 2019 P.S: The team currently stands at 23 signed players. A fun activity will be to come up with a potential starting 11 when all players are gone for the world cup.
Just out of curiosity: the players involved are supposed to remain unavailable for all the length of WWC anyway or can it depend on how far their NT advances in the tournament? Anyway, Fishlock, Nielsen and Addo, if they will be with Reign again this season, won't have this kind of problems, since their NTs sadly didn't qualify for WWC...
I was thinking more of a worse case scenario when they are all out. That scenario may never happen because the NWSL will be on break when the bulk of the players are gone but it will be a fun exercise nonetheless. In other news, there is a new presenting partner. I quite like the logo and think it will blend well with whatever design of jersey we go with this year. We’re proud to announce @zulily as our new presenting partner. Also sponsoring @SoundersFC, zulily is uniting both of Seattle’s professional soccer teams under one jersey partner for the first time. pic.twitter.com/jzyIQZH7ip— Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc) January 17, 2019
I think the big thing is that any sponsor that followed XBox was going to be a let down, both because XBox is a global brand and it has a huge "cool" factor. Zulily is still a growing brand, so it pales in comparison to XBox.. Some people also have a issue with a company that has traditionally targeted women is now the sponsor for a men's sports team. Granted, Zulily is attempting to expand its brand to include men, but the switch from having the sponsor expanding the Sounders brand to the Sounders expanding the Zulily brand is jarring?
Interesting that both the Reign and Sounders have the same shirt sponsor, but I guess the Reign had Microsoft before and Sounders had XBox, so there seemed to have been some synergy there before, as well. But announcing them together certainly puts a different feel to it. I'm guessing 2019 will be the same home jersey as last year, since they've been using every home jersey design for 2 years (well, other than the 2013 ones). Seems like a big missed opportunity to not announce the new jersey at the same time as this if they are going to. I expect they'll have a new away jersey, though, since they used the same one for 2017 and 2018. Reign jersey history: Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler
Yes, the press release said the home jersey will be the same and they will introduce a new "alternate" jersey. For those who are superstitious about kits, or just interested, here's the record of every kit. (Sorted by points per game.)
The reign are moving to a new stadium, Cheney Stadium in Tacoma. It is a baseball stadium but at least it looks like it has grass. I'll leave it to the Seattle residents to opine on the details of the stadium. From google images it looks like a midsize stadium (8k - 10k). My one concern is what the dimensions will look like for soccer. From what I'm hearing though there may be some improvements from the city as well as Bill/Theresa to make this work. Sounds like this may be their home for a while which am not mad about. Beginning with the 2019 @NWSL season, @ReignFC will play its home matches at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma. Owners Bill and Teresa Predmore penned an open letter to fans & supporters of the club detailing the move. Read it here: https://t.co/dT3oyp2PxV pic.twitter.com/l3fx0uRJY9— Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc) January 30, 2019
Important points from Predmore's open letter Memorial stadium was not compliant with USSF regulations and NWSL had granted a two year repreive to the team which had expired. The city of Seattle is planning major renovations to Memorial Stadium starting in 2019 which made our future there uncertain. All other options in and around Seattle were explored but none met standards either for playing surface or capacity. Only option was Century Link and they couldn't agree on terms Started talking to the owners of Cheney Stadium who owns the minor league baseball team that plays there and have a partnership with Sounders FC for their USL team. Stadium meets all standards thus move was approved. Team will now be known as just Reign FC, dropping the Seattle The Rainers (owners) now have a minority stake in Reign FC. Plans are already being made to build a soccer specific stadium in Tacoma which should be ready by the 2021 season The Hanauers (majority owners of the Sounders), have made an investment in the club. Not sure if it's minority ownership or not, but sounds like it. Microsoft is still the technology partner For me personally I think all these developments sound positive and give one the impression that the long term viability of the team looks strong. Suffice it to say am excited