Of course the NWSL isn't there yet; they still have to play the games to figure out who wins. I.just. couldn't. resist.
I always found it strange that she would have played another year so not too surprised that she is retiring.
Only three years a pro. That's definitely too early, but if there's a tantalizing job offer on the table... Oh well. =-/
Why? I know she left the Nat. team, but has she stated future plans in the past that would make you think retirement was coming?
indeed. jazzmine reeves, a much better player, retired after 1 year, when amazon put some money on the table.
Sinead Farrelly retires: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=960989644034923&id=100003716889978
It appears little was said about her accident and injuries. In April it was described as an offseason accident with no time period when she was put on disable list. Then waived after season and picked up by Seattle.
I'm guessing her injury was too great to overcome, realistically. Having had the chance to watch her play in person, that's really too bad. For those who want to see highly skilled technical players, she fit the mold really well. She was great to watch. I'm sorry to know she's out, I hope she comes back to Portland and coaches youth soccer (some of which she did while with the Thorns).
Sad news about Farrelly. The league is losing skilled playmakers - Holiday, Freels, Farrelly, Little, others - and they are not being replaced at the same rate unfortunately. I wasn't aware of Farrelly's car accident - maybe I just wasn't checking the right news sources but I don't think this was very well publicized or explained by the Breakers last season. I had no idea she suffered such a traumatic thing. Anyway, best wishes and I hope she can fully recover a normal functional life without the pressure of soccer fitness weighing on her. On the topic of Reeves (mentioned above), NWSL badly needs a strategic plan to help non-WNT players in their mid and upper 20s stay in the league. Some kind of office to work with players and connect them with employers for off-season jobs in their metro markets, etc. Otherwise NWSL will turn into 25 well-paid players ranging from 23-35 years old, and the rest will be young 20-somethings fresh out of college playing for scraps. That isn't a good breakdown, you need young, medium, and older seasoned pros to make up a good professional roster. I am happy the league is on sustainable financial footing, not undervaluing that at all (having witnessed the WUSA/WPS collapses). But having experienced, mature players stick around for more than a few seasons is important. And if Ellis is serious about blowing open the WNT player pool, letting more league players compete for spots, it is in the NT's interest for these players to stick around too!
You mean you weren't reading the BigSoccer forums? Actually, I'm surprised no one posted it before on this board (at least I missed it too). That kind of information usually only comes out via some obscure tweet.
I think we need to give it a few more years. I believe the NWSL is headed in the right direction, but during its growth, will end up letting a few really good players slip by, it's inevitable. I really think that the NWSL will become sustainable in another 5-10 years with the proper support. Tying the NWSL clubs to MLS clubs, IMO, will be the key to building a proper foundation, but, again, will take time.
I think the original news might have been dropped by thrace in a tweet and them got reaffirmed when she was put on a 45 day IR. No actual information beyond car accident has ever been released for what the actual injury was.
I was told very early last year that Farrelly would not play the whole season, but Boston never really disclosed the extent of the damage and I could not therefore acknowledge it publicly.
In one of those "never announced as a retirement, but just never comes back" moves, Rachel Quon describes herself as "a former professional soccer player." http://www.sjearthquakes.com/post/2016/12/08/news-earthquakes-introduce-innovation-advisory-board Rachel Quon Rachel Quon is currently a Marketing Associate at Costanoa Ventures. She is a former professional soccer player for the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women’s Soccer League from 2013-16 after a standout collegiate career at Stanford University, where she led the Cardinal to their first-ever NCAA National Title in 2011. Rachel also represented the Canada National Team from 2013-16.
Kendall Fletcher is going to go to school in Australia after the W-League season: http://equalizersoccer.com/2017/01/16/kendall-fletcher-to-leave-seattle-reign-start-school/
That's the 2nd big retirement loss for Seattle this offseason. Fletcher had a fairly long professional career, though. So she bucks that trend, at least.
Players who've had long careers *are* the trend at this point. I mean, look at the list of players we've mentioned in this thread since August of last year (i.e. ignoring the slew of early retirements during yr2/yr3 of NWSL; two non-NWSL players had previously been mentioned for comparison): Fletcher started her post-collegiate career in 2006 with the NJ Wildcats of the W-League (and was Pali Blues' first ever player in 2008), started pro in 2009 with the LA Sol Quon - three years with the Red Stars (started 2013) Farrelly started in 2011 with the Philly Independence Silva - three years with FCKC (started 2013) Melis started playing for Malmo in 2007 Goodson was semipro with the San Diego SeaLions in 2010, then played for Twente (falling victim to WPS folding, as she had been drafted by Philly in 2012) before joining NWSL in 2013 Gordon started with the Breakers in 2013 Williamson was semipro with the Ottawa Fury in 2012 before joining NWSL in 2013 Edwards was part of the 2006 NJ Wildcats team and even played for the Freedom Reserves before joining FCGP in 2010 Winters started with the Breakers in 2011 Kessler bounced between the first and second Bundesligas with her first club but joined Turbine Potsdam in 2009 Necib started with Montpellier in 2006 Hemmings and Angeli both started with the Boston Breakers in 2010 Pathman was very recent, starting with Boston in just 2014 Of all those 15 players, just 5 players had 4 or fewer years as pros (or otherwise top-flight), with everyone else having 6 or more years. And none of the retirees had 2 or fewer years.
And yet none of the people you mentioned retired over the age of 30, except Fletcher. A couple did retire at 30, but most most were under 30. I guess the term "long career" is subjective. But, IMHO, retiring before 30 is not a long career, it's a decent career, sure, but not long.