USWNT captain Lindsey Heaps says salary cap issue to blame for NWSL departures
USWNT captain Lindsey Heaps says salary cap issue to blame for NWSL departures
USWNT captain and Lyon midfielder Lindsey Heaps says the NWSL salary cap may be to blame for some of America's top players leaving the league for Europe.
A small wave of Americans left the NWSL for Europe this summer, highlighted by Naomi Girma who became the first million-dollar transfer in women's soccer. Girma left the San Diego Wave for Chelsea for a world-record $1.1 million fee in January.
Advertisement
Speaking ahead of Lyon's Champions League semifinal clash with Arsenal, Heaps called the cap an 'ongoing issue,' when asked why Americans are coming to Europe.
'There's a salary cap in NWSL and I think that's an ongoing issue there that hopefully can be changed or increased,' Heaps said at Lyon's press conference. 'It's a factor in the NWSL and for players coming overseas.'
Heaps will square off against USWNT teammates Emily Fox and Jenna Nighswonger, both defenders on Arsenal, on Saturday. She described the matchup as 'so cool, so exciting and also very special for me, because these moments don't happen a lot.'
There are 'a lot of things' that attract Americans to Europe, Heaps said. 'You have two very, very good leagues. (When) you play a lot of time in the NWSL, like I did, I wanted a different challenge.
Advertisement
'It wasn't anything against the NWSL, but I wanted to come play in Champions League again. I wanted to play for a big club like this. I think I just needed a different kind of challenge.
'Maybe that's also what these players felt. Speaking with Nay [Naomi Girma], speaking with Jenna [Nighswonger], speaking with Foxy [Emily Fox], that's what they need. That's what they needed at the time.'
At their recent national team camp, Heaps said she teased Fox ahead of their Champions League clash. 'I was giving Foxy [Emily Fox] as much crap as I possibly could and trying to just chip at her a little bit.'
She said it was 'special' to see her U.S. teammate's excelling in an environment like Arsenal's. 'To see [Fox] go and make that big move and play well and be a very impactful player for the team as well, I think that's really special for me to see as a captain.
Advertisement
'I want all of my players to be doing well – just not this weekend, I hope.'
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
US Women's national team, NWSL, UK Women's Football
2025 The Athletic Media Company
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
43 minutes ago
French soccer union blasts Club World Cup over 'massacre' of player welfare
PARIS -- France's union of professional soccer players launched a scathing attack on the Club World Cup on Sunday, saying it is 'urgent to stop this massacre' amid ongoing concerns about extreme player workloads. The UNFP also accused FIFA president Gianni Infantino of living 'in an ivory tower' by ignoring the impact congested calendars have on players worldwide. 'The incongruity of the situation is not lost on anyone, except, of course, Gianni Infantino and his flatterers. From the height of his ivory tower, which he parades around the world, the FIFA president is not bothered by the fate that the international calendar reserves for the game's leading players,' the UNFP said in a statement early Sunday morning. 'His (Infantino's) Club World Cup proves, to the point of absurdity, that it is urgent to stop this massacre game. He flouts the physical and mental health of players for a few more dollars." The UNFP statement said the Club World Cup comes at the end of an already exhausting season, and thereby ignores 'collective bargaining agreements (which) almost everywhere, provide for an incompressible period of three weeks of rest for footballers between two seasons.' FIFA was approached for comment by The Associated Press. Days before the start of the month-long Club World Cup, which ends on July 13, soccer chiefs faced renewed calls to safeguard players over growing fears of injuries and burnout. The newly expanded tournament involving 32 of the world's best teams has faced pushback since FIFA announced it would be added to an already saturated calendar. The tournament will be played every four years, sandwiched in between the men's World Cup, European Championship and Copa America. It went ahead against the backdrop of legal challenges in Europe, strike threats and repeated concerns over players' mental and physical welfare due to too many games. 'The UNFP, like FIFPRO and FIFPRO Europe, has been protesting for years against the drastic increase in workloads,' The UNFP added. 'But also against the harmful repercussions for domestic football of a calendar that FIFA is still alone in building today.' Last September, Manchester City midfielder Rodri suffered a severe knee injury soon after saying players were close to going on strike over excessive workloads. Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain is one of the biggest sides involved in the Club World Cup. After winning the Champions League on May 31, key PSG players like Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué played for France and then went to the United States soon after for the Club World Cup. Some French clubs have already resumed training for the upcoming Ligue 1 season, which begins mid-August, while others start next week. PSG was not able to push back its start to the Ligue 1 season. 'We don't see how or why the Parisians should not benefit from the three weeks of complete rest they are entitled to,' the UNFP said, adding that the toll of extra games for PSG's players could impact the national team in early September. "A delay in preparation that must also worry (France coach) Didier Deschamps ahead of two qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup," the UNFP said, before concluding. 'What do you say, Mr. Infantino?' FIFA hopes the event will be to club soccer what the World Cup is to international soccer and establish itself as one of the biggest and wealthiest tournaments in sport. The old version of the Club World Cup, which was played yearly, was dominated by European teams in recent times. Only Brazilian team Corinthians broke Europe's winning run in 17 years.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Wales' greatest female footballer Fishlock completes career dream
When it comes to Welsh women's football there is no question that Jess Fishlock is the greatest of all time. Debates would rage over the greatest men's player, it is easy to make the case for John Charles or Gareth Bale, perhaps you preferred Cliff Jones or Ian Rush or maybe you were a Neville Southall enthusiast. Advertisement However, any conversation over Wales' greatest female footballer would be a short one. Fishlock has won it all at club level, lifting league title trophies in six different countries, twice winning the Champions League and she has also starred in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) for Seattle Reign over a prolonged period, winning the NWSL most valuable player award in 2022. Yet despite clocking up more air miles as a player than many pilots, Fishlock has always remained available for her country, having represented Wales 162 times since her debut in, of all places, Switzerland, in 2006. Fishlock has been there for Wales for 19 years, always available, always setting the standards, always trying with all her heart to drag Wales with her onto football's biggest stage. Advertisement Sometimes, getting closer to a dream that you cannot obtain, makes things harder. So it was for Fishlock and for Wales. Three near misses for major finals qualification in succession. It seemed highly possible, probable even, that Fishlock would join the list of the greatest players never to play at a major international tournament, a list already brimming with Welsh players such as Gary Speed, Ryan Giggs, Rush and Southall. However, after a glittering club career, Fishlock, now 38 and one of the greatest female footballers in history, will finally play international football on the biggest stage. The dream is to become a reality for a trailblazer of women's football who has represented Wales with distinction for over two decades, smashing records and raising her teammates, as she has done throughout her trophy-laden club career. Advertisement "You don't play for this long unless it means so much to you," Fishlock told BBC Sport Wales. "I don't think I can put into words how much playing for Wales means to me. "We have had some times when we should have qualified for a major tournament, but we didn't. "A big narrative around my entire career internationally has been 'can I get to a major tournament? Can we get to a major tournament?' We've been so close so many times. "When you want to achieve something and you get to do it with some of your very closest friends, there's really no comparison to that feeling." Born to play for Wales Fishlock's journey to professional football would be a familiar one, if at the time a pathway had existed for a football-mad girl from Cardiff to play the game professionally. Advertisement "She was a very little girl who grew up in Llanrumney just kicking a ball about with her brothers in the garden, that is where it all started," brother James recalls. Her love for football developed further at a soccer camp in Cardiff during the summer holidays. "My older sister wanted to go to the camp and my mum said for me to go along with her," Fishlock recalls. "From that moment that was what I wanted to do." "Jess would be up and she would want to be in the garden, she'd be over here, over there, wouldn't matter if it was a mud pile, Jess would be out in it," Fishlock's mother Sharon remembers. Advertisement When Fishlock wasn't playing football, she was dreaming about it. "Jessica was the one who used to go bed with a football, she was dedicated from an early stage," her father Kevyn said. With her talent increasingly clear, Cardiff City Ladies fast-tracked Fishlock, who joined the club aged seven, making her first team debut at 15. "When she was a 14-year old girl she used to say she wanted to be a professional footballer and I used to mock her, as older sisters do, because there was no such thing as a female professional footballer at that time," sister Kathyrn remembers. Fishlock's Wales career began when she was an amateur, before a move to the Netherlands to play for AZ Alkmaar in 2008, becoming the first overseas player in the Eredivisie. Advertisement Back-to-back titles followed, but it was far from easy for a young woman who had never been away from her family. "She went to AZ Alkmaar and when she wasn't playing she was washing dishes in the stadium," sister Kathryn said. "The things she's had to do to reach where she has got to, you can't even put it into words, how hard she has worked to create and carve out this life that she has." Success everywhere… except with Wales Fishlock has won it all in her career, playing across the world to achieve her ambitions. In 2011 she swapped the Netherlands for Bristol, helping them to an FA Cup final appearance and ending her second season with the club as the Women's Super League's players' player of the season. Advertisement Fishlock then joined Melbourne Victory in Australia, leading the team to two Grand Finals, including the club's first title in 2013, with Fishlock named player of the match in the final. Since joining Seattle in 2013, Fishlock has helped Reign to three NWSL Shield titles, as well as winning honours across the world during loan moves when the NWSL has been out of competition. Fishlock won the Scottish title with Glasgow in 2014, the German league and Champions League with Frankfurt in 2015, before again winning the Australian league in 2016, 2017 and 2018 with Melbourne City. In 2019 Fishlock helped Lyon win both the first division title and the Champions League, meaning she won league titles for seven successive seasons. Advertisement "As a football fan, I think she is the best player I have ever seen play the game," her brother James says. The constant for Fishlock at club level has been her semi-permanent home for over a decade, Seattle, the place where she met her now wife, ex-teammate Tziarra King. Fishlock and King were married in 2023 and LGBTQ+ advocacy has always been a big priority for Fishlock, who says she was bullied at school because of her sexuality. Fishlock was appointed an MBE in 2018 for services to women's football and the LGBT community, while she was honoured with a Fellowship of Aberystwyth University in 2024. Advertisement Only last week, a mural of Fishlock was unveiled on a pitch in Splott. "You are proud. Proud of her for achieving what she's achieved, nobody else has done it. I'm more proud that she's now able to be her true authentic self no matter where she is," sister Francessca says. "You can't really ask for more." However, while Fishlock should be at national treasure status, former Wales captain and Uefa executive committee member Laura McAllister says she has been celebrated less than she deserves. "I've tested this with my friends who are football fans and not all of them know who Jess Fishlock is and that tells you a lot about the invisibility of the women's game for the past two decades," she said. The dream becomes a reality Fishlock's desire to compete at the top with Wales has seemed like less of a fantasy in the past decade with increased spending from the Football Association of Wales leading to steady progress for the international side. Advertisement Twice, under manager Jayne Ludlow, they almost qualified, first for a World Cup and then for a European Championship. The latter disappointment, where Wales missed out to Northern Ireland on away goals scored, despite an identical points tally and a vastly superior goal difference, still hurts. It was a similar story in 2022, Wales beaten in a World Cup play-off final in (again) Switzerland, losing 2-1 to the Swiss in the final seconds of extra time, with a penalty shoot-out looming. At each failure, Fishlock has pondered, often publicly, retiring from international football. "After Switzerland I didn't know what to do. Can I do two more years? Can I deal with anymore heartache? It took a long time to get over that defeat, it was a bit soul-destroying to be honest." Advertisement Yet she continued, never stopped chasing the dream and eventually, it came to fruition. Wales won their Nations League B group and qualified for the Euro 2025 play-offs, drawing Slovakia in the semi-finals. Disaster struck with Fishlock sidelined for a month leading into the match with a calf injury, fit enough only to start as a sub in the away leg. With Wales 2-0 down and facing a crisis, Fishlock entered the fray and created a goal for Ffion Morgan. It was Fishlock - of course - who scored the goal that levelled the tie in Cardiff, playing 120 minutes as Wales eventually triumphed 2-0, with Fishlock creating Ceri Holland's injury time winner. Advertisement Fishlock also provided the assist for Lily Woodham in the first leg of the play-off final as Wales drew 1-1 with Republic of Ireland, before the dramatic second leg in Dublin where a 2-1 Welsh win saw them finally make history and qualify for a major tournament for the first time. After the match Fishlock told the pitchside BBC reporter that it was "the proudest moment," of her career. With the benefit of hindsight, another emotion has been added to the euphoria. A feeling of relief. "There was a big element of, you know, oh my god, finally," Fishlock said. "Finally this has happened. And there was relief which I wasn't expecting. Maybe I just hadn't realised how kind of big it had been weighing on me for all these years until that moment happened. And so there was obviously joy and euphoria but there was also relief for me specifically. Advertisement "I can't believe that we have done it. Finally the greatest female footballer Wales has ever produced will represent her country on the biggest stage. The dream has become reality.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Man City could find priceless transfer route from Pep Guardiola outcast
As Manchester City look for a right-back to replace Kyle Walker, they may want to take a look at one of Al Hilal's players. He looks like a perfect Pep Guardiola player, capable of bursting down the wing or coming inside and playing through the middle. Advertisement Joao Cancelo was of course perfect for Guardiola, for a time. He overcame a stormy start in 2019 to become one of the most important players in the time, absolutely vital to the Premier League wins in 2021 and 2022. When things went downhill though, they went quickly and explosively. Cancelo's fallout with Guardiola was so swift and extreme that as City toiled in January 2023 it was decided that the full-back needed to leave immediately however short it left them in those positions. READ MORE: Viktor Gyokeres to Man United transfer twist as shock loan claim made READ MORE: Mbeumo signs, Gyokeres hope, £64m transfer - Manchester United's dream squad next season Advertisement City were so eager to get rid they even let Cancelo go on loan to a Champions League rival, and he ended up playing against them for Bayern Munich in the competition. Not that the Blues minded, besting the Bundesliga giants on their way to an historic Treble as Cancelo was forgotten. A year on loan at Barcelona followed before a permanent transfer to Al Hilal last year. There he was forgotten but now he's back as part of a Saudi team that have drawn with Real Madrid, knocked out Salzburg, and are looking to claim a bigger scalp in the Club World Cup. City are heavy favourites for the last-16 game, yet whatever happens Al Hilal have given an excellent account of themselves and shown they can compete at such a global tournament. They are paid well, and they play well. That may be enough for Cancelo's former teammates Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker to consider the Saudi Pro League as they look for an exit for City. Both could also ask Aymeric Laporte or Riyad Mahrez about playing in the league, but Cancelo's presence at the Club World Cup is a reminder that such a move does not necessarily mean the loss of global prestige that it has previously been associated with. Advertisement City would rather both players leave permanently this summer, but with high wages it does not seem straightforward. Turning to the Saudi market could be a priceless way for the club to get what they want while giving the players a move that pays them well and enables them to play in a decent side. The one concern will be the World Cup in 2016, with Walker and Grealish hoping to do enough to make the England squad. Again, the Club World Cup could be exactly what is needed to see a shift in perception of the relatively new league. Cancelo will enjoy his reunion with City as he looks to prove he still has the quality to compete at the highest level. And City may not mind if he does if it boosts their chances of securing some much-needed exits from their squad. --- Advertisement Here at the Manchester Evening News, we're dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester City coverage and analysis. Make sure you don't miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day's biggest stories.
