The Seattle Reign FC is an American professional women's soccer team based
in Seattle, Washington. The team began play in 2013 in the then eight-team
National Women's Soccer League that receives support from the United States
Soccer Federation, the Canadian Soccer Association and the Mexican Football
Federation. History
= Establishment = In November 2012, it was confirmed that
a Seattle-based women's professional soccer team owned by Bill Predmore had
been accepted into a new women's professional soccer league, later named
National Women's Soccer League. Former general manager of the Seattle Sounders
Women and Seattle Sounders FC Director of Youth Programs, Amy Carnell, was
named General Manager. = Team name, crest, and colors unveiled
On December 19, 2012, the name and logo was unveiled as Seattle Reign FC. The
team's colors were announced as white, platinum, royal blue and midnight black.
The name was selected in part as homage to the first professional women's sports
team in Seattle, Seattle Reign, a defunct professional basketball team in
the American Basketball League. Owner, Bill Predmore stated, "Today's
announcement is the result of a thoughtful process to identify the name
that best represents the values of our club, articulates our long-term
ambitions and celebrates the community within which our supporters live. Reign
FC meets all of those objectives and at the same time honors the legacy of
professional women's sports in Seattle. Like the Seattle Sounders, whose fans
selected a name that honored those who pioneered the sport of soccer in Seattle
in the early 1970s, Seattle Reign FC was, in part, selected to pay homage
those visionaries — the leaders and players of the Seattle Reign women's
basketball team — who pioneered professional women's sports in Seattle."
= Inaugural season = On December 21, 2012, the team announced
Laura Harvey as their first head coach. Harvey was head coach of Arsenal L.F.C.
from 2010-2012 after serving as an assistant for two years, assisted and
then coached Birmingham City L.F.C. from 2002-2008, and served as an assistant
coach for England's U-17, U-19 and U-23 women's national teams from 2005-2011.
On January 11, 2013, as part of the NWSL Player Allocation, Kaylyn Kyle, Teresa
Noyola, Megan Rapinoe, Amy Rodriguez, Jenny Ruiz, Hope Solo, and Emily Zurrer
were named to the Seattle team. On January 18, the Reign selected Christine
Nairn, Mallory Schaffer, Kristen Meier, and Haley Kopmeyer at the 2013 NWSL
College Draft. On February 4, 2013, it was announced that the team had signed
four free agents: Kate Deines, Jessica Fishlock, Tiffany Cameron, and Lindsay
Taylor. During the February 7, 2013 NWSL Supplemental Draft, the team selected
Nikki Krzysik, Lauren Barnes, Laura Heyboer, Liz Bogus, Michelle Betos and
Kaley Fountain. Leading into the preseason, it was
learned that the Reign would be without all of their U.S. national team
allocated players for almost half of the season. National team forward, Amy
Rodriguez, announced she was pregnant with her first child and would not be
playing during the inaugural season. U.S. national team goalkeeper, Hope
Solo, would be away for the first part of the season after recovering from
wrist surgery and Megan Rapinoe had signed with French side, Olympique
Lyonnais, from January to June and would miss at least nine games. After
traveling to Japan in the preseason to play matches against defending L. League
champion INAC Kobe Leonessa, Fukuoka J. Anclas, and Nojima Stella Kanagawa, the
Reign faced their first regular season match against the Chicago Red Stars at
Benedictine University, in which Seattle's first college draft pick,
Christine Nairn, scored the Reign's first goal of the season via a header
off an assist from Liz Bogus. The Red Stars later tied the game 1-1, but the
point that Seattle earned in the game would be its only for the next nine
games. Without the U.S. national team players or a veteran goalscorer up
front, the team struggled to win games. Although the losses were for the most
part consistently low-scoring games, it was apparent that the Reign was missing
some final ingredients for success. In June 2013, head coach Laura Harvey
began making some trades and signing new international players. With the trades
and the return of U.S. national team players, Solo and Rapinoe, the Reign
began to turn the season around with a 1-1 tie against the Western New York
Flash. The game would be the first of a six-game undefeated streak for the Reign
with two ties and four wins. After losing to regional rival, Portland
Thorns FC, 2-1 in the season finale in front of a sold-out crowd of 3,855, the
Reign ended the 2013 NWSL season seventh in the league with a 5-14-3 record.
= 2014 season = During the 2014 season, the Reign set a
league record unbeaten streak of 16 games. During the 16 game stretch, the
Reign compiled a 13-0-3 record. The streak came to an end July 12, 2014 in a
match against the Chicago Red Stars that ended 1-0 in favor of the Red Stars. The
team finished first in the regular season clinching the NWSL Shield for the
first time. After defeating the Washington Spirit 2-1 in the playoff
semi-finals, the Reign were defeated 2-1 by FC Kansas City during the
championship final. Following the regular season, the team earned several
league awards. Kim Little won the Golden Boot and Most Valuable Player awards;
Laura Harvey was named Coach of the Year; Kendall Fletcher, Jess Fishlock,
Little and Nahomi Kawasumi were named to the NWSL Best XI team while goalkeeper
Hope Solo and defenders Lauren Barnes and Stephanie Cox were named to the
Second XI team. = 2015 season =
The Reign finished the 2015 season in first place clinching the NWSL Shield
for the second consecutive time. After defeating the Washington Spirit 3-0 in a
playoff semi-final, the Reign were defeated 1-0 by FC Kansas City during
the championship final in Portland. Following the regular season, the team
earned several league award nominations. Kim Little, Jess Fishlock, and Beverly
Yanez were nominated for league Most Valuable Player, Laura Harvey was
nominated for Coach of the Year; and Lauren Barnes and Kendall Fletcher were
nominated for Defender of the Year. Laura Harvey was ultimately named Coach
of the Year for a second consecutive year. Barnes, Little, Yanez, and
Fishlock were named to the NWSL Best XI team while Kendall Fletcher, Stephanie
Cox, Megan Rapinoe, and Keelin Winters were named to the Second XI team.
Year-by-year Stadium
During the inaugural season of the NWSL, Reign FC played at Starfire Stadium in
Tukwila, Washington. The stadium is located approximately 12 miles from
downtown Seattle and is the training facility for Seattle Sounders FC, as
well as where the Sounders play their U.S. Open Cup matches. With a seating
capacity for 4,500 spectators, the stadium also features a press box with
full scoreboard and sound system capabilities. The pitch features
FieldTurf. In February 2014, it was announced that
the team would be moving to Memorial Stadium, located at the Seattle Center,
for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. The stadium features an artificial turf
pitch that was installed in 2013 and a seating capacity of 12,000 spectators
although seating capacity was set at 6,000 for the beginning of the 2014
season. The stadium was the previous home of the Seattle Sounders from
1974-1975 when the team played in the North American Soccer League and from
1995 to 2002 when the team played in the United Soccer League.
Supporters The first supporters group that was
formed for the Reign is the Royal Guard. Founded by Matt Banks, Kiana Coleman,
Stephanie Van Slageren, and Alex Thomas in April 2013, the group became the
first fully professional women's supporters group in Washington state's
history. Other supporters groups for the team include: Fortune's Favourites and
Queen Anne Collective. Ownership and team management
Reign FC is owned by Bill and Teresa Predmore. Bill Predmore is the CEO of
POP, a Seattle-based digital marketing agency. After the agency did some work
with the Seattle Sounders, Predmore had joked that he would give the team a
discount in exchange for a piece of the team. Although it didn't happen, the
experience inspired Predmore to begin thinking of owning a club. Although a
Major League Soccer team was out of reach, he started to consider a women's
team. "From a financial perspective, it was achievable," Predmore said. "But I
also thought I could actually make a difference. Ultimately, my goal is to
build the best women's club in the world. That won't happen tomorrow or
this year, but in 10 years or 20 years that's where we want to be." Predmore's
wife, Teresa, played college soccer at Oregon State University and soccer is
one of her lifelong passions. Leading up to the inaugural season of
the NWSL, Amy Carnell was named General Manager for the team. Within a week of
regular season play, Carnell resigned from her position citing "personal
reasons" and head coach Laura Harvey assumed the role - a setup similar to
what she was used to as coach of the Arsenal L.F.C. in England. Sam Laity is
the team's lead assistant coach while Ben Dragavon is the goalkeeper coach.
Broadcasting Seattle Reign games are broadcast live
by Bootstrapper Studios via YouTube. The broadcasts are called by KOMO News Radio
Sports Director, Tom Glasgow, with color commentary provided by Lesle Gallimore,
head coach of the Washington Huskies. During the 2013 season, a select number
of league games were broadcast on Fox Sports. During the 2014 season, several
league games were broadcast by ESPN. In March 2015, the team became one of the
first sports teams to use the newly released app Periscope to stream a
preseason friendly against the Portland Pilots. In 2015, six select regular
season games and the playoff matches were broadcast by Fox Soccer. The
playoff final featuring Reign FC and FC Kansas City set a league record
averaging 167,000 viewers on Fox Sports 1 — an increase of 7 percent compared to
the 2014 final broadcast on ESPN2. Players
= Current squad = Where a player has not declared an
international allegiance, nation is determined by place of birth. Squad
correct as of October 26, 2015. Honors
NWSL Shield Winners: 2014, 2015
See also List of top-division football clubs in
CONCACAF countries List of professional sports teams in the
United States and Canada References
External links Official website