Happy Monday, TWG readers! 

I had the most wholesome weekend hanging out with a five-month old and training to be an Auntie. My husband and I had our good friends in town and we were introduced to life with a baby… it was such an adventure and I’m feeling much more confident that I’ll be able to help my sister change a diaper soon!

As the weekend passed, I also realized that it’s been a full year since the launch of The Women’s Game. TWG has been on such a journey, from our first episode of Friendlies with Lindsey Horan, to our first AltCast with TruTV, to our NWSL Championship in-person coverage.

It’s been quite the personal journey for me as well, having my first post-playing job and learning so much about the media industry and what I can offer to this space. I’d love for you to check out this article by Mackenzie Meaney with Business Insider covering some of our journey this past year.

I am so excited for what’s to come in 2025 and so grateful to those of you who are coming along with us. And with that in mind, I’m thrilled to announce that Good Vibes returns tomorrow! Becky, Lynn, and I are recording our first episode back after a few weeks away. We’re going to relive multiple weddings, Becky’s first months of retirement, plus we’re talking NWSL, WSL, and more. Tune in tomorrow wherever you get your podcasts… and listen carefully because we have a giveaway to kick off season two!

Thank you all so much for being here!

Love,
Sam

USWNT in London: The Hive Grows to Five 👯

• Naomi Girma isn’t the only U.S. Olympian moving to London. Announced on Jan. 30, versatile fullback Jenna Nighswonger is moving to Arsenal. The 24-year-old left back was drafted by Gotham in 2023 and helped secure their 2023 NWSL Championship, making 58 appearances across all competitions during two seasons with the New York/New Jersey club. Under Emma Hayes, Nighswonger played in five of six Olympic matches as the USWNT won gold in Paris. More on that transfer here.

• Nighswonger’s move brings the USWNT London-hive to five. Girma (who clocked her first training session last week) joins Mia Fishel and Catarina Macario at Chelsea. Nighswonger joins fellow fullback Emily Fox as a Gunner.

More - Last week, Girma became the most expensive women’s football signing in history when she moved to Chelsea from San Diego for 1.1 million dollars.

• Apart from the exodus to London, another experienced USWNT star is heading to France. World Cup champion and gold medalist Crystal Dunn is joining PSG in the Première Ligue. Dunn leaves Gotham on a free transfer to embark on her second stint in Europe, with a contract through June 2027. The USWNT veteran will unite with two young U.S. talents in Paris as defender Eva Gaetino and Dunn’s fellow-Olympian, midfielder Korbin Albert, also play for the third-place French club. 🇫🇷 🇺🇲

More - Sam weighs in: Should we panic about USWNT players leaving NWSL?

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Elsewhere in England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Women’s Super League (WSL) - Matchday 13 🏟️

• This weekend’s marquee matchup saw England’s third and fourth-place teams, Arsenal and Manchester City, face off in Manchester. Arsenal proved victorious in a 4-3 goalfest that saw Spanish forward Mariona Caldentey open the scoring in the first minute. In the 78th minute, Swedish forward Stina Blackstenius gave the Gunners their third and final lead of the game. (Jenna Nighswonger was available from the bench, but did not debut). 

• No Girma debut for Chelsea this weekend. But England midfielder and former Barcelona star, Keira Walsh, came off the bench in Sunday’s 1-0 win against Aston Villa, marking her first appearance for the first-place Blues. Chelsea remains seven points ahead at the top of the table.

More - Girma and Walsh can be Chelsea’s key cogs in pursuit of European glory.

• Manchester United kept their hold on second place with a 1-0 win against sixth-place Tottenham. 23-year-old Norwegian Elisabeth Terland scored an early volley to seal the club’s fifth straight win in the regular season. 

More - Women’s Super League: talking points from the weekend’s action

Women’s FA Cup - Fourth Round 🏆

• Four games that were delayed by weather earlier this month played out across England last week. Four top flight WSL teams in Everton, Brighton & Hove Albion, Arsenal, and Liverpool won their ties to conclude the fourth round. Check out this Beth Mead strike in Arsenal’s 5-0 win against Bristol City. ☄️

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European Roundup 🌍

• Germany’s top flight Frauen-Bundesliga entered Matchday 13 of 22 with its top three teams tied on points. On Saturday, first-place Frankfurt beat third-place Leverkusen 3-2 to keep their hold on the top spot. 🇩🇪

• U.S. captain Lindsey Horan scored her 11th goal of the year in Lyon’s 4-1 win against Montpellier on Friday. Horan is tied with her teammate, Melchie Dumornay, for second most goals in the French top flight. 🇫🇷

• Barcelona Femení picked up their first loss of the year on Saturday against Levante, who are currently placed second-to-last in Liga F, and in danger of relegation. Barça’s uncharacteristic defeat marks their first Liga F loss in 46 games and 622 days. Levante took the initial 1-0 lead in the 50th minute, and scored again in stoppage time to claim a 2-1 victory despite Fridolina Rolfö’s late goal. 🇪🇸

News and Notes 📰🗞️

• Some big names will remain with their clubs this NWSL offseason: 2024 NWSL MVP Temwa Chawinga is staying in Kansas City. And the Thompson sisters—19-year-old Gisele and 20-year-old forward Alyssa—extended their contracts with Angel City through 2028. 🤝🏼

• Big news for key Lionesses: 27-year-old England forward Chloe Kelly is returning on loan to her first professional club, Arsenal. The Manchester City player confirmed the move just hours before the deadline, and will stay with Arsenal for the remainder of this season. Meanwhile, 27-year-old English midfielder Keira Walsh is moving to Chelsea from Barcelona after two-and-a-half seasons with the Spanish giants. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

  More: Kelly says Manchester City assassinated her character before move.

• Making earlier reports official, NWSL unveiled Denver as the 16th NWSL team for a record expansion fee of $110 million. 🏔️

• The UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-final and semi-final draw takes place this Friday, Feb. 7 (7 a.m. ET, DAZN, UEFA App) in Nyon, Switzerland. Four group-stage winners (Lyon, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Barcelona) will be drawn against four second-place teams (Wolfsburg, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City) in quarter-final ties taking place March 18-27.

• England and Bayern Munich midfielder Georgia Stanway has undergone surgery for an LCL injury and will be out for “several months.” Stanway started all six of England’s games in their successful 2022 European Championship run, and played in all six (while starting four) games in their second-place finish at the 2023 World Cup. 🤕

• Barcelona players have criticized plans for the club to play the Supercopa in Saudi Arabia. Pushback from the women’s team comes as the Spanish Football Federation is in talks to extend the men’s team’s Supercopa taking place in Saudi Arabia until 2034, with the women’s team potentially joining. 🇸🇦

Parting Shots 🥃

“...Comparing that to taking a picture with a little contract is massively different…”

England midfielder/forward, current Brighton & Hove Albion player, and former Chelsea stalwart Fran Kirby talked to Sam on the pod this week about the difference between when she first signed a contract and now. ✍️

Good Reads 📚

• Ella Toone on the loss of her dad in The Players Tribune, “Ten Pounds”

• From Rachel Bachman in The Wall Street Journal, “The force in women’s football that’s even more powerful than Caitlin Clark”

• One more time just in case you missed it up top: From Business Insider, “How Sam Mewis built a women’s soccer podcast that’s cracked into the rankings of men’s sports”

Moment of Joy 🤸

We love a wedding!! Sophia Smith married Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Wilson last week and we just can’t stop looking at the photos 😍.

📝 Want to be featured in next week’s TWG newsletter? Send Sam an email! All your questions, comments, and dog (or wedding) photos can be sent to [email protected].