The 2015 NWSL Expansion Draft was a special draft held on November 2, 2015 by the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federati ...

to allow expansion side

Orlando Pride The Orlando Pride is a professional women's soccer team based in Orlando, Florida. The team joined the National Women's Soccer League, the top level of women's soccer in the US, for the 2016 season. It became the tenth team to be added to the ...

to select players from existing teams in the league. The Pride were allowed to select up to ten players total from the existing nine NWSL teams from a list of unprotected players previously provided by the clubs.

Format

* 2015 playoff teams (

Chicago Red Stars The Chicago Red Stars are a professional women's soccer club based in Bridgeview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league, they have played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) ...

FC Kansas City FC Kansas City was an American professional women's soccer club based in Kansas City, Missouri. The team was one of the eight founding clubs of the National Women's Soccer League in 2012, and began play in 2013. They were two-time NWSL champions ...

Seattle Reign FC OL Reign is an American professional women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, ...

and

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit is an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area that participates in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the W-League and con ...

) were allowed to protect up to 9 players, and 2015 non-playoff teams ( Boston Breakers,

Houston Dash The Houston Dash is a professional Women's association football, women's soccer team based in Houston, Texas. It joined the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in the 2014 National Women's Soccer League season, 2014 season, and is affiliated w ...

, Portland Thorns FC,

Sky Blue FC NJ/NY Gotham FC is a professional women's soccer team based in Harrison, New Jersey. Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 until 2020. A founding member of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 201 ...

and Western New York Flash) up to 10. * Clubs with more than two U.S. allocated players could protect up to two of them; the remaining allocated players would be left unprotected. * The Pride were allowed to pick up to two players from any existing team, or just one if they selected a US allocated player. * The Pride were allowed to pick no more than two US allocated players total. * When an existing club loses a player, they may protect one of their remaining unprotected players. * Eligible players included those left unprotected by their club encompassing: **Any current NWSL players including U.S., Mexican and Canadian allocated players **Any unsigned player who was previously claimed via waivers **Any player that has been loaned to a club outside the NWSL **Any player whose rights are held by a specific team * Players on a team’s Discovery List were not eligible to be selected by the Pride.

Expansion draft results

The following players were selected by the Orlando Pride during the Expansion Draft on Monday, November 2, 2015. On October 26, 2015, it was announced that the expansion

had trade the #1 pick in the 2015 NWSL Expansion Draft as well as the #1 pick in the

2016 NWSL College Draft Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * '' Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film di ...

and an international roster spot for the 2016 and 2017 seasons to the Portland Thorns FC in exchange for USA star forward

Alex Morgan Alexandra Morgan Carrasco (born Alexandra Patricia Morgan; July 2, 1989) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a striker and captains for San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the highest division o ...

and

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

midfielder Kaylyn Kyle.

Team-by-team breakdown

*Bold indicates a player was selected in the expansion draft *Blue highlights indicate US allocated players *^Indicates a player that was protected after a teammate had been drafted

Boston Breakers

Chicago Red Stars

Houston Dash

FC Kansas City

Portland Thorns FC

Seattle Reign FC

Sky Blue FC

Washington Spirit

Western New York Flash

References

External links

Official draft procedures release
{{NWSL drafts National Women's Soccer League drafts 2016 National Women's Soccer League season Orlando Pride