Gotham FC to host WSL side Chelsea in August friendly

Photo Copyright Ray Acevedo for USA TODAY Sports

It will be a clash of champions as the 2023 National Women’s Soccer League winners NJ/NY Gotham FC host this season’s Women’s Super League winners Chelsea on Monday, Aug. 19 at 7 p.m. ET for a first-ever friendly between the two sides.

This highly anticipated matchup will provide plenty of intrigue for fans while providing the seven-time WSL champions Chelsea with top-tier competition as the English side prepares for the 2024/25 WSL season.

“On one hand it’s really exciting,” said Gotham striker Lynn Williams about the upcoming friendly. “When I was in North Carolina we got to play in the [Women’s International Champions Cup] against Lyon and PSG. It’s really cool when you can play against teams from [international] leagues.”

Despite the expected fanfare, with these added friendlies concerns remain over a very crowded summer schedule for NWSL teams this year, especially as injuries pile up.

“It’s a very congested summer,” Williams continued. “On one hand it’s very cool to have this amount of games but if we’re going to have those games, we need the infrastructure to support said games. I think that we’re just going to have to manage our loads a lot and that’s a big ask for players to do.”