Washington Spirit
| Washington Spirit | |||
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| Basic data | |||
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| Surname | Washington Spirit | ||
| Seat | Washington, DC | ||
| founding | 2012 | ||
| Website | washingtonspirit.com | ||
| First soccer team | |||
| Head coach |
 Richie Burke
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| Venue | Maryland SoccerPlex | ||
| Places | 5.126 | ||
| league | National Women's Soccer League | ||
| 2019 |
Reg. Season : 5th place Play-offs: not qualified |
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Washington Spirit is a women 's soccer franchise based in Washington, DC. It was founded in 2012 and has played in the National Women's Soccer League , the top division of women's soccer in the United States , since 2013 .
history
On November 24th, 2012 the founding of a new women's soccer professional league was announced in the USA. It has also been announced that a team from Washington, DC will be attending.
On December 11, 2012, it was announced that the new Washington, DC franchise will be called Washington Spirit - and not, as initially assumed, DC United Women.
In the first season the team finished eighth and last in the table with only 14 points (3 wins, 5 draws, 14 defeats) in 22 games.
The year 2014 was more successful : Washington reached the play-offs with fourth place after the regular season . In the end they were tied with the fifth, the Chicago Red Stars , but had won the direct comparison. In the semifinals, however, the team failed at Seattle Reign FC .
Also in 2015 , the franchise took 4th place after the regular season, which allowed participation in the play-offs. Here, however, as in the previous year, the team lost in the semifinals against Seattle.
The 2016 season was the franchise's most successful to date. The regular season ended the team in second place behind Portland Thorns FC and thus reached the play-offs for the third time in a row. In the semifinals that followed, they defeated the Chicago Red Stars 2-1 after extra time and reached the final. However, this was lost to Western New York Flash on penalties after it had been 2-2 after extra time.
In the following year 2017 , the crash took place in the table basement - the team finished 10th and last place in the regular season with just five wins from 24 games this season. The 2018 season was even more unsuccessful: the team only managed two wins in 24 games and it finished eighth after the regular season. Coach Jim Gabarra was sacked in August and replaced on an interim basis by assistant coach Tom Torres .
Before the 2019 season , the Englishman Richie Burke took over as coach at Washington. Under him, the team was able to improve significantly and finished the season in fifth place in the table. Thus, the entry into the play-offs was just missed.
Stadion
- Maryland SoccerPlex ; Germantown , Maryland (2013-2020)
- Audi Field ; Washington, DC (from 2020)
- Segra Field ; Leesburg , Virginia (from 2020)
From 2013 to 2018 the Washington Spirit played its home games at the Maryland SoccerPlex . It has a capacity of 5,126 spectators.
In 2019, the Spirit continued to play at the SoccerPlex, but played two of its home games at Audi Field, home of the MLS team DC United .
In 2020 the Spirit will play home games in three stadiums, four of them in the SoccerPlex, four in the Segra Field and four in the Audi Field. Segra Field is home to Loudoun United FC , which plays in the USL Championship . The Spirit will leave the SoccerPlex completely after 2020. In the 2021 season, they plan to play seven home games at Audi Field and the remaining five at Segra Field.
Trainer
- 2013: Mike Jorden
- 2013–2015: Mark Parsons
- 2016-2018: Jim Gabarra
- 2018: Tom Torres
- since 2019: Richie Burke
Players
Current squad
Status: 29. October 2019
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Coaching staff
- Richie Burke (Trainer)
- Ian McCaldon (Goalkeeping Coach)
- Tom Torres (Assistant Trainer)
reserve
There was already a franchise in the W-League called DC United Women, which was owned by the same organization as Washington Spirit. Since 2013 it has served as the Washington Spirit Reserve under the name Washington Spirit Reserves.
Season statistics
| year | league | Regular season | Play-offs | Average audience 1 | Most successful goalscorer 1 |
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| 2013 | NWSL | 8th place | not qualified | 3,620 |
 Diana Matheson (8)
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| 2014 | NWSL | 4th Place | Semifinals | 3,335 |
Jodie Taylor (11)
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| 2015 | NWSL | 4th Place | Semifinals | 4,084 |
 Crystal Dunn (15)
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| 2016 | NWSL | 2nd place | final | 3,782 |
 Estefania Banini (5)
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| 2017 | NWSL | 10th place | not qualified | 3,491 |
Mallory Pugh (6)
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| 2018 | NWSL | 8th place | not qualified | 3,892 |
Ashley Hatch (4)
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| 2019 | NWSL | 5th place | not qualified | 6,138 2 |
Ashley Hatch (7)
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Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ New women's football league founded in the USA - with a team from Washington, DC
- ↑ New professional women's football team from Washington is called Washington Spirit - and not DC United Women
- ^ Washington Spirit parts ways with head coach and general manager Jim Gabarra. In: washingtonspirit.com. August 21, 2018, accessed September 7, 2018 .
- ↑ Spirit hire Richie Burke as head coach, name technical staff. In: NWSL.com. January 8, 2019, accessed February 4, 2019 .
- ^ Roster - Washington Spirit. In: washingtonspirit.com. Retrieved October 29, 2019 .
- ↑ DC United Women become Washington Spirit Reserves ( April 19, 2014 memento in the Internet Archive )