 Temporary logo [1] | |
| Full name | BOS Nation Football Club |
|---|---|
| Stadium | White Stadium Boston, Massachusetts |
| League | NWSL |
| 2026 | Inaugural Season |
BOS Nation FC is a planned women's soccer club based in Boston, Massachusetts. The club will compete in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) starting in 2026. The team will play its home games at White Stadium.
The Boston Breakers competed in Women's Professional Soccer from 2009 to 2011. [2] The league folded in early 2012, and that year, the Breakers competed in the Women's Premier Soccer League Elite. [3] After one season, the club joined the National Women's Soccer League for its inaugural season in 2013. The club folded after the 2017 season with reports generally blaming a lack of marketing and resultant limited fanbase. [4] [5] [6]
On September 19, 2023, an NWSL expansion team was announced, with a planned start date in 2026. [7] The ownership group of the winning bid, Boston Unity Soccer Partners (BUSP), is an all-female ownership group led by Jennifer Epstein, Stephanie Connaughton, Ami Danoff, and Anna Palmer. [7] Later investors joined, including Aly Raisman, Elizabeth Banks, Brad and Tracy Stevens, and Linda Henry. [8] The team will play home matches in White Stadium in Franklin Park, Boston. [7]
The city of Boston planned to commit up to $50 million towards the stadium's renovation, and BUSP pledged $30 million. [9] The stadium is to be the first venue in the country which will be home to a major league sports franchise and the athletic program of a public high school. [9] The stadium will be shared with Boston Public Schools track and soccer. [9] American football matches will be prohibited at the field during the professional soccer season, although high school football will be played on the field for playoffs and Thanksgiving games. [9]
The club's name and its black-and-green branding were announced on October 15, 2024, during a marketing campaign that said "there are too many balls in this town". [10] [8] BOS Nation FC was selected as a play on the name of the city ("BOS Nation" is an anagram of "Bostonian") [11] and the word boss; other options included Boston FC, Boston Unity, and names having to do with weather. [8]
On October 16, BOS Nation FC posted an apology on social media amid criticism of its initial marketing campaign of "too many balls" from the LGBTQ community, particularly those identifying as transgender. While the "too many balls" campaign was intended to highlight the male-dominated nature of Boston sports teams, it was seen as transphobic. [12]
The United States Soccer Federation (USSF) governs most levels of soccer in the United States, including the national teams, professional leagues, and amateur leagues, being the highest soccer authority in the country. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) governs most colleges; secondary schools are governed by state-level associations, with the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) setting the rules at that level. The match regulations are generally the same between the three governing bodies although there are many subtle differences.
Boston, Massachusetts, is home to several major professional sports franchises. They include the Red Sox (baseball), the Celtics, and the Bruins. The New England Patriots and the New England Revolution play at Gillette Stadium in nearby Foxborough, Massachusetts. Boston is one of eleven U.S. cities to have teams from the five major American professional team sports.
Leslie Marie Osborne is a retired American soccer defensive midfielder who last played for the Chicago Red Stars in the NWSL in 2013. She is a former member of the United States women's national soccer team and previously played for FC Gold Pride and the Boston Breakers in the WPS. She announced her retirement as a player in March 2014.
The Western New York Flash was an American soccer club based in Elma, New York that most recently competed in the United Women's Soccer league in 2018. They won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-League in 2010, Women's Professional Soccer in 2011, Women's Premier Soccer League Elite in 2012, and the National Women's Soccer League in 2016.
The Boston Breakers were an American professional women's soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defunct Women's United Soccer Association, as the Boston area's professional women's soccer team. Boston would eventually be awarded BOS Nation FC in 2023 that would begin play in 2026.
The Women's Premier Soccer League Elite (WPSL Elite) was a women's semi-professional soccer league created by the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) to support the sport in the United States, both from continued interest by WPSL teams in professionalism and as a response to the suspension (and ultimate demise) of the WPS.
Women's soccer in the United States has developed quite differently from men's soccer. Until the 1970s, organized women's soccer matches in the U.S. existed only on a limited basis.
Madeline Nicole Washington is an American retired professional soccer forward and right midfielder who last played for Boston Breakers in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and is currently an assistant coach for the women's soccer team at the University of Washington. She previously played for Chicago Red Stars, Boston Breakers, and magicJack in Women's Professional Soccer as well as the Portland Thorns FC and Houston Dash in the NWSL. She captained the United States team that won the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup and played for the under-23 team.
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. Headquartered in New York City, it is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federation.
Adriana Kristina Leon is a Canadian professional women's soccer player who plays as a winger for English Women's Super League club Aston Villa and the Canadian national team.
The expansion of the National Women's Soccer League began with the league's sophomore season in 2014, when the league expanded to a ninth team in Houston, and is an ongoing process that currently has seen five expansions, three direct or indirect relocations, and one contraction. The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) was established as the top level of professional women's soccer in the United States in 2013 in the wake of the defunct Women's United Soccer Association and Women's Professional Soccer.
Katherine Nicole Stengel is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Women's Super League club Crystal Palace.
Rosemary Kathleen Lavelle is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for NJ/NY Gotham FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States national team.
Christen Joan Westphal is an American professional soccer player who plays as a right-back for San Diego Wave FC. She previously played for the Portland Thorns, Reign FC, and Boston Breakers, as well as the United States national under-23 team. She played collegiate soccer for the Florida Gators.
Abigail Mackenzie Smith is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for NJ/NY Gotham FC in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).
The 2017 National Women's Soccer League season was the fifth season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer (2009–2011) and the Women's United Soccer Association (2001–2003), it was the eleventh overall season of FIFA- and USSF-sanctioned top-division women's soccer in the United States. The league is operated by the United States Soccer Federation and receives major financial backing from that body. Further financial backing is provided by the Canadian Soccer Association; both national federations pay the league salaries of many of their respective national team members in an effort to nurture talent in those nations.
Ifeoma Chukwufumnaya Onumonu is a professional footballer who plays for Montpellier HSC in the French Première Ligue. She previously played for Utah Royals, NJ/NY Gotham FC, Reign FC, Portland Thorns FC, and Boston Breakers in the National Women's Soccer League. Onumonu played collegiate soccer at the University of California, Berkeley and in high school at Los Osos High School.
The 2017 Boston Breakers season was the club's twelfth season overall, eighth consecutive season, and fifth season as a member of the National Women's Soccer League. They finished 9th in the 10 team league with a record of 4 wins, 13 losses, and 7 draws.
The Utah Royals are an American women's professional soccer club based in Salt Lake City. Established on November 16, 2017, as an expansion club, the Royals played its first stint in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) from 2018 until ceasing operations in 2020, with their player-related assets transferred to the expansion Kansas City Current. In 2023, Real Salt Lake owners Ryan Smith and David Blitzer reestablished the team.
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