The 2021

Portland Thorns FC Portland Thorns FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL ...

season was the team's ninth season as a professional women's soccer team. Thorns FC plays in the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

, the top tier of women's soccer in the United States.

Background

The Thorns were semi-finalists in the

2020 NWSL Challenge Cup The 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup was a tournament during the 2020 National Women's Soccer League season to mark the league's return to action from the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first professional team sports event to return to play in United States ...

and champions of the

2020 NWSL Fall Series The 2020 National Women's Soccer League season was the eighth 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 ( ...

, which replaced the

2020 NWSL season The 2020 National Women's Soccer League season was the eighth 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 ( ...

as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Abuse scandal

Throughout the

2021 National Women's Soccer League season The 2021 National Women's Soccer League season was the ninth 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 ...

, allegations of abuse surfaced in multiple teams across the

in the United States. As a result, five out of the ten teams in the league had head coaches resign or be fired, with league commissioner

Lisa Baird Lisa Baird is an American businesswoman. Career Baird has worked for IBM and the National Football League (NFL). She was described as "helped secure broadcast, sponsorship, and licensing deals during her decade with the United States Olympic and ...

also resigning due to the scandal. In late-September, ''

The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports journalism department of ''The New York Times''. It provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories ...

'' published an investigation into

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acqui ...

head coach Paul Riley, alleging that Riley had sexually coerced and verbally abused players on his teams, specifically during the time period between 2011 and 2015 (consisting of his time in WPS, WPSL, and NWSL). More than a dozen players from every team Riley had coached since 2010 spoke to the publication and two named players went on the record with allegations against him. In the article, Riley denied the allegations. The article also stated that NWSL failed to act on Riley's alleged abuses multiple times, including earlier in 2021 when the league declined to act on an offer from two of Riley's alleged victims to assist in investigating Riley's alleged abuses. Later that day, the Courage announced that Riley had been fired due to "very serious allegations of misconduct". Merritt Paulson Portland Timbers vs Colorado Rapids 2016-10-16

Merritt Paulson Portland Timbers vs Colorado Rapids 2016-10-16

The Thorns released a statement the same day citing that some of the incidents occurred during Riley's two-year tenure as head coach of the Thorns in 2015 and discussing their reaction to the incidents at the time. The Thorns later claimed to have investigated the reports and allowed Riley's contact to expire as a result, but did not fire him, and later thanked Riley for his service and continued to praise his performances in the following years. Paulson also apologized for this course of action. In the report by The Athletic, a former Thorns player who had raised complaints about Riley also said Thorns general manager

Gavin Wilkinson Gavin Wilkinson (born 5 November 1973) is a former New Zealand footballer who served as general manager and President of Soccer for the Portland Timbers from 2009 to 2022. Prior to this position, Wilkinson was manager of Portland Timbers in th ...

complained to her about a newspaper story in 2014 regarding her sexuality and suggested to her that she should not publicly discuss her sexuality or

Pride Pride is a human Emotion, secondary emotion characterized by a sense of satisfaction with one's Identity (philosophy), identity, performance, or accomplishments. It is often considered the opposite of shame or of humility and, depending on conte ...

. Wilkinson initially disputed Shim's recollection, calling it "bullshit", then released another statement apologizing to Shim. The player's story was further corroborated by the reporter who wrote the story, who noted that a member of the club's communications staff had complained about the lack of advance notice about the story's publication, as well as for another story about the same player in 2018 after she had left the team. Another reporter who covered the team corroborated the reporter's account. Also in September, former

Sky Blue FC Gotham Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the New York metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 un ...

player

Nadia Nadim Nadia Nadim (; born 2 January 1988) is a professional association football, footballer who plays as a striker (association football), striker for the Damallsvenskan club Hammarby Fotboll (women), Hammarby, on loan from Italian Serie A (women's f ...

accused management of forging her signature on a contract extension so they could trade her to the Thorns in early 2016. Thorns and Timbers owner

Merritt Paulson Henry Merritt Paulson III (born 1972/1973) is an American businessman who is the minority owner of Peregrine Sports, LLC, which owns the operating rights to the Portland Timbers, a Major League Soccer (MLS) team. He and his company also founded a ...

apologized in an open letter on October 4, but a number of Portland Thorns players released a statement two days later calling for Wilkinson to be suspended. On the day of the players' statement, Wilkinson, who was responsible for Riley's hire and the eventual non-retainment of Riley's services following the 2015 season, was put on administrative leave from his role as the Thorns general manager, though not from his roles as general manager and president of the co-owned

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

. That evening, players interrupted several matches to link arms in a circle in the center of a field to protest against abuse. The protest was repeated by players in several leagues outside the United States, such as the

FA Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

, in a gesture of solidarity.

Aftermath

The club reinstated Wilkinson as Timbers and Thorns president of soccer in January 2022 following an internal business review; however, due to ongoing league, union, and

federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

investigations, no players could be interviewed, and the players association disavowed any connection between the internal review and other investigations. Wilkinson and the Portland Timbers front office faced further accusations of misconduct in the face of abuse reports in February 2022, when

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

suspended Timbers player Andy Polo pending an investigation into allegations of domestic violence made by Polo's ex-partner. Police reports later indicated that Timbers employees were present when police arrived to investigate the initial call in May 2021, months before The Athletic's report on Paul Riley was published, but the team failed to report the incident to the league for nine months. Polo's ex-partner detailed the event on Peruvian television, and claimed she had been pressured into not filing charges against Polo. An MLS investigation in March 2022 claimed the Timbers did not pressure Polo's ex-partner nor intentionally conceal the incident or their involvement. Wilkinson claimed Diego Valeri opposed the decision to cut Polo, which Valeri denied as he was no longer with the Timbers at the time of Polo's release from the team.

Olivia Moultrie lawsuit

In 2019, after signing deals with

Wasserman Media Group Wasserman Group is a sports marketing and talent management company based in Los Angeles. Casey Wasserman, grandson of media mogul Lew Wasserman, founded the company in 1998 and acts as its chief executive. History In 2002, Wasserman acquired ...

and

Nike, Inc. Nike, Inc. (stylized as ''NIKE'') is an American athletic footwear and apparel corporation headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. It is the world's largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, ...

, the family of 13-year-old professional soccer player

Olivia Moultrie Olivia Lynn Moultrie (born September 17, 2005) is an American professional soccer player who plays as an attacking midfielder for the Portland Thorns of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She is the youngest American women's soccer play ...

announced that Moultrie was moving from

Canyon Country, California Canyon Country is a neighborhood in the eastern part of the city of Santa Clarita, in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It lies along the Santa Clara River between the Sierra Pelona Mountains and the San Gabriel Mount ...

, to Portland, Oregon, to join the Portland Thorns FC developmental academy. On May 4, 2021, with the support of the Thorns front office and players, Moultrie and her father K.C. sued the National Women's Soccer League over a rule preventing players under the age of 18 from signing with the league, claiming it violates antitrust law because

, the North American top-division men's league, did not prohibit such signings. On May 24, 2021, U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut issued a 14-day

temporary restraining order An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable reme ...

against the league on the request of Moultrie's lawyers, stating that the league had not presented "any compelling procompetitive reasons" for the policy. The league argued that as a single entity, it could not be anticompetitive. However, in the temporary restraining order, Immergut noted that the NWSL might not meet the legal standard for a single-entity organization, being instead a collection of independent teams competing for talent, and that the age rule therefore would violate section 1 of the

Sherman Antitrust Act The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (, ) is a United States antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce and consequently prohibits unfair monopolies. It was passed by Congress and is named for S ...

. If such a ruling became permanent, other league rules that relied on its single-entity structure could be similarly contested. On May 29, 2021, the league delayed, and then denied, the Thorns's discovery claim to the right to sign Moultrie to an NWSL standard player agreement. This prevented the Thorns from signing her despite the court order, made her discovery rights available to other NWSL teams, and delayed any potential NWSL contract offer. On June 6, 2021,

OL Reign Seattle Reign FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since J ...

acquired the discovery rights to sign Moultrie to an NWSL contract, and subsequently traded them to the Thorns in exchange for a third-round pick in the

2022 NWSL Draft The 2022 NWSL Draft was the 10th annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on December 18, 2021, and hosted remotely by CBS Sports. Format * All 12 teams of the National ...

. This allowed the Thorns to extend a professional contract offer to Moultrie in compliance with the court's restraining order. According to Moultrie's attorney, the league claimed to be in the process of creating a special discovery process for young players. On June 18, 2021, Immergut granted Moultrie a

preliminary injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable reme ...

allowing her to sign an NWSL contract, which the league stated that it would appeal to the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts: * Distric ...

on the grounds that the league was negotiating a

collective bargaining agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...

with the

NWSL Players Association The National Women's Soccer League Players Association (often known as NWSL Players Association or NWSLPA) is the officially recognized union of players in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). History The NWSLPA was formed in May 2017 un ...

that would codify an age rule negotiated with players. On June 30, 2021, Moultrie officially signed a three-year professional contract with the NWSL to play for Portland Thorns FC. On July 30, 2021, Moultrie and her attorneys settled their lawsuit with the NWSL out of court, which allowed Moultrie to sign with the league but left the league's age rule otherwise prohibiting players under the age of 18 intact. The settlement also allowed any age rule eventually agreed upon in the league's collective bargaining agreement with the Players Association to make Moultrie ineligible again.

Aftermath

Moultrie debuted for the Thorns as a professional on August 19, 2021, against the

Houston Dash The Houston Dash are an American professional soccer team based in Houston, Texas, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Dash began play in the 2014 season. The team plays its home games at Shell Energy Stadium. His ...

during the 2021 Women's International Champions Cup exhibition tournament. She scored her first professional goal during the match off a direct free kick. Moultrie would finish the 2021 NWSL season with nine appearances and an assist. In 2022, the league allowed 17-year-old

Jaedyn Shaw Jaedyn Reese Shaw, OLY (born November 20, 2004) is an American professional association football, soccer player who plays as a forward (association football), forward or attacking midfielder for the North Carolina Courage of the National Women's ...

to join the league in an exemption to the age rule similar to the one created for Moultrie's settlement. Shaw's rights were claimed by

San Diego Wave FC San Diego Wave Fútbol Club is an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The team plays its home games at Snapdragon Stadium. Founded on June 8, 2021, the Wav ...

, who signed her to a contract through 2023. Shaw started the season training with the

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the USL W-League (1995� ...

, who had attempted to sign her directly, but were denied by the league's discovery process.

Stadium and facilities

Thorns FC continued to play and train in

Providence Park Providence Park (formerly Jeld-Wen Field; PGE Park; Civic Stadium; originally Multnomah Stadium; and from 1893 until the stadium was built, Multnomah Field) is an outdoor soccer venue located in the Goose Hollow neighborhood of Portland, Oregon ...

, their home since the team's inaugural season in 2013. The team held its first preseason training at the

training facilities in

Beaverton, Oregon Beaverton is a city in the Tualatin Valley, located in Washington County in the U.S. state of Oregon, with a small portion bordering Portland. The city is among the main cities that make up the Portland metropolitan area. Its population was ...

, before resuming training at the stadium.

Team

Staff

Squad

Competitions

NWSL Challenge Cup

In 2021, the Thorns competed in the cup's West Division during the group stage.

Group stage

West Division standings

Championship

won the right to host the final by finishing with the best record across both divisions. NWSL commissioner

wrote a letter to Oregon governor

Kate Brown Katherine Brown (born June 21, 1960) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 38th governor of Oregon from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she served three terms as the state representative from the 13th distr ...

requesting an exemption from a ban on fan attendance due to the "extreme risk" designation for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

Multnomah County Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland metropolitan area. The state's smallest and most populous county, it ...

at the time. Brown denied the request, prompting rumors that the league might seek an alternative venue. However, Brown then downgraded the county's status four days before the match on May 4, 2021, to "high risk", allowing the Thorns to make up to 15 percent of the venue's capacity available.

Regular season

Matches

Regular season standings

Results summary

Results by matchday

NWSL Playoffs

In 2021, the NWSL expanded the single-elimination playoff field from four to six teams, and granted the top two teams in the regular-season standings a first-round bye. The Thorns finished first in the league to win the

NWSL Shield The NWSL Shield is an annual award given to the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team with the best regular season record as determined by the NWSL points system. The NWSL Shield has been awarded annually since 2013 and is recognized as a ...

and hosted the third-seeded

Chicago Red Stars Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chic ...

in the playoff semi-finals.

International Champions Cup

The 2021

International Champions Cup The International Champions Cup (ICC) was an annual club association football (soccer) official competition staged from 2013 to 2019. COVID-19 resulted in the 2020 edition being cancelled. The tournament was later abolished, but the Women's I ...

Women's Tournament was a friendly tournament of

women's association football Women's association football, more commonly known as women's football or women's soccer, is the team sport of association football played by women. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries, and about 200 national teams partic ...

matches. It was the third edition of the

Women's International Champions Cup The Women's International Champions Cup (WICC) is an annual club women's soccer invitational tournament in the United States. Launched by Relevent Sports Group in 2018, it features four women's soccer teams from America and Europe competing for ...

and took place in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, United States, from August 18 to 21, 2021.

qualified as champions of the 2020 Fall Series and emerged the winners, defeating

Olympique Lyonnais Féminin OL Lyonnes, formerly known as (; then commonly referred to as Olympique Lyon) and still commonly known as Lyon or simply OL, is a French women's professional Women's association football, football club based in Lyon. The club has been the fem ...

1-0 in the final, while

FC Barcelona Femení Futbol Club Barcelona Femení, commonly referred to as Barça Femení () or simply Barça, is a Spanish professional women's association football, women's football team based in Barcelona, Catalonia. It is the women's football section of FC Barc ...

won the third-place match.

Bracket

Matches

Statistics

Appearances, scoring, and discipline

''Players with no appearances not included in the list. Players whose names are struck are no longer with the club. Numbers in parentheses in the Appearances column represent appearances as a substitute.''

Clean sheets

Awards

NWSL annual awards

Announced November 17, 2021

Best XI

Second XI

NWSL monthly awards

Team of the Month

NWSL weekly awards

Player of the Week

Save of the Week

Transactions

NWSL Draft

Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. The

2021 NWSL Draft The 2021 NWSL Draft was the ninth annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on January 13, 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the first NWSL Draft to be held virtua ...

was held on January 13, 2021.

Transfers in

Transfers out

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Kansas City NWSL The Kansas City Current are an American professional soccer team based in Kansas City, Missouri, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded as an expansion team in 2021. The team plays its home games at CPKC Sta ...

, Traded in exchange for $150,000 in allocation money and Abby Smith. , , - , August 25, 2021 , align="center" , , , , align="center" , FW , None , National Team Replacement contract expired. , , - , rowspan="3" , December 8, 2021 , align="center" , , , , align="center" , FW , rowspan="2" ,

Angel City FC Angel City Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The formation of the team was announced on July 21, 2020; it beg ...

, rowspan="2" , Traded in exchange for protection from Angel City FC in the 2022 NWSL Expansion Draft, $100,000 in allocation money, and Angel City's natural second-round pick in the

. , rowspan="2" , , - , align="center" , , , , align="center" , FW , - , {align="center" , , , , align="center" , MF , None , Contract expired. , , - , rowspan="2" , December 16, 2021 , align="center" , , , , align="center" , DF , rowspan="2" ,

, rowspan="2" , Traded in exchange for $50,000 in allocation money. , rowspan="2" , , - , align="center" , , , , align="center" , FW , - , January 27, 2022 , align="center" , , , , align="center" , MF ,

Olympique Lyon Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...

, Loaned through June 2023. , , - , February 2, 2022 , align="center" , , , , align="center" , MF , None , Retired. , , -

References

{{2021 NWSL season by team 2021 National Women's Soccer League season American soccer clubs 2021 season Portland Thorns FC seasons 2021 in sports in Oregon NWSL Shield–winning seasons