Sam Kerr returns to the club where she helped inspire meaningful change

On July 7, 2018, Sam Kerr scored a hattrick in her first game against her former team Sky Blue FC. In a moment where most players would celebrate, she instead walked away with her head down. “If I’m honest, I didn’t enjoy it,” Kerr commented after the match. “I wish things were better here, and that I could stay. It just sucks that that’s the way it had to be.”

Kerr’s departure from Sky Blue FC was not a happy one. She left behind a club with some of the worst training, playing, and living conditions in the league. Their training facilities lacked basic amenities like locker rooms, running water, and bathrooms, and the club didn’t have an equipment manager or laundry services. On the housing side, former assistant coach Dave Hodgson spoke of the horrific conditions that the players were subjected to. “One of the houses that players had to live in just should have been knocked down. Plastic bags for windows, sheets of cardboard for windows, comforters stuck in holes in the wall.”

Girls deserve better

It’s no wonder that after the game, Kerr’s parting words were somber. “I’m just going to say the girls deserve better and I’m just going to leave it at that. I wish I could take every single one of them with me but that’s not the way it is. I felt like I was going to cry at some points in the game.”

Since her departure from the club before the start of the 2018 NWSL season, Sky Blue FC has undergone a complete overhaul and is getting ready to welcome her back under its new name and identity, Gotham FC. The club announced on June 29th that they had signed Sam Kerr as a free agent to a contract running through the end of the 2030 season. 

Kerr’s words in that game in 2018 started a complete revolution for the club. When Gotham FC hired General Manager Yael Averbuch West in 2021, her first move was to purchase a professional industrial washer and dryer to start the process of bringing long overdue basic necessities to the team. As a former player herself (who played two seasons at Sky Blue), Averbuch West was committed to transforming the club into a player-centric environment in a way that prioritized the day-to-day experience and well-being of the players. 

Since she took the reins five years ago, Averbuch West has led the club to two domestic championships, one continental title, and one domestic Challenge Cup. The club has signed some of the biggest superstars in women’s football today, including Rose Lavelle, Esther González, and most recently Sam Kerr. A few weeks ago, Gotham FC announced the construction of their very own dedicated training facility, investing $35 million into a player-forward space meant to continue the club’s trajectory towards an elite destination for women’s professional footballers.

The club’s transformations have since won the original whistleblower over. In her signing announcement, Sam Kerr had a very different tone than the mournful one she took in 2018. “I’m incredibly excited to return to Gotham FC and to this city. This club was an important part of my journey, and to come back at this moment, with everything Gotham has built, is really special. The ambition here is clear, and I’m looking forward to helping this team compete for trophies and create more history.”