If there’s anyone who can make a convincing pitch for Boston Legacy FC, it’s Sam Mewis.
The former professional soccer player’s nickname is “Tower of Power” — a reference to both her height and the dominant role she played on the pitch. She knows the sport inside and out after nearly a decade playing professionally, mostly in the National Women’s Soccer League, where she won three titles. And she was a key member of the U.S. Women’s National Team that won the 2019 World Cup. Plus, she’s a Massachusetts native, raised in the Boston suburb of Hanson.
These days, Mewis is part of the athlete advisory board for the Legacy. And at a fan event in Dorchester last month, she laid out her pitch for potential players.
There’s the revamped White Stadium, where the team will play in 2027 after kicking off its inaugural season next year at Gillette Stadium. Not to mention a brand new practice facility in Brockton. Beyond that, she argued there’s a unique chance for players to help set the pace for a new team in a league where players are getting more access to better resources than maybe ever before as the global shape of the women’s game continues to shift.
“Boston is in such a cool position, where they get to come in at this time when the standard is so high,” she said. “Players who come here in this first year will get to help shape the culture of this club and get to help the community and the fans learn what it’s all about and build that up.”
It’s also an opportunity for the people tasked with piecing together the puzzle of the Legacy’s first-ever squad. And as they build this team, they do so in a new era for the NWSL.
No draft, no problem
Inside the team’s offices in Copley Square, general manager Domè Guasch and director of recruitment Edward Gallagher carry a large chunk of the burden of building the first Legacy squad.
Part of that challenge is acquiring players without a process many Americans are used to: a draft.
Last year, the NWSL became the first major American league to do away with player drafts as part of the new collective bargaining agreement with the player’s union. The agreement also mandates that players can only be traded with their own consent. So, instead of getting traded and whisked halfway across the country at a moment’s notice, players have a larger say in where they suit up.
It’s a bit unprecedented, at least by domestic standards. But for Guasch, who comes to Boston after spending over a decade with FC Barcelona, where that sort of decision making is more common, it’s really business as usual.
“With an intention of globalizing the league even more, [the league] made certain steps and obviously also empowering the players to make their own decisions,” he said. “Which, again, that’s the world we come from. So, I would say now it is not that different.”
'The phone never stops’
To help Boston Legacy and Denver Summit FC, the other new NWSL club starting next season, the league has given them some key advantages.
Both clubs will have $1.065 million in allocation money — funds available to them that can go beyond the salary cap or be used in transfers and trades to attract players. That’s compared to the $500,000 that non-expansion teams have.
They’ll also have access to additional transfer funds that lets them sign players who are with other teams.
“For both Domè and I, the phone never stops."Edward Gallagher, Boston Legacy FC Director of Recruitment
That money has helped make building a NWSL team from scratch a little easier. But for Gallagher, who was previously with English club Brighton & Hove Albion, his time in Boston has still been busy. It’s too much work for one phone: Gallagher has two to help him deal with the influx of calls and messages he has while he’s working on putting the squad together.
“For both Domè and I, the phone never stops,” he said. “That means speaking to people at all hours of the morning and all hours at night, depending on where we’re trying to do deals. But that’s part of the job. And that’s what we’re here to do.”
He said the ownership team’s vision is guiding their path to acquiring players. From there, they’ve built a profile for each position with the traits and skills that they’re looking for.
“We’ve got depth charts. We’ve got long lists. We’ve got options that we’re speaking to. But as we start to add more pieces to the jigsaw, the picture starts to become that little bit clearer,” Gallagher said. “We’re constantly working, constantly moving, constantly evaluating, but we do have an idea in our head about who we want to target.”
Filipa Patão built a reputation for developing players at Portuguese club Benfica. Now, as Legacy FC’s first head coach, she’ll be expected to do the same.
At a welcoming party with supporters in the Seaport earlier this month, Patão said there are a lot of benefits to starting from scratch. One of them is a chance to make history — hopefully in a good way.
“This represents a lot to the players, to the people that are working here. Because we can be the first in all,” she said. “We’re going to be in the history of the club, so we want to be with the good history, not with the bad history. So, we’re gonna fight for that.”
There’s still a lot of work to do, both on the club’s future home at White Stadium (a project that has become the center of debate between those for and against it) and on building the roster itself.
With just months to go until Boston Legacy FC takes the pitch at Gillette Stadium, just over half a dozen players are committed to the club. Guasch says they hope to get to around 25 players in total.
Their first signing, Annie Karich, is currently on loan with Club América in Mexico. Another notable signee, Alba Caño, came up through Barcelona’s academy system and currently plays for the senior team there. The club also signed Aïssata Traoré, the first player from Mali to sign with an NWSL team.
Guasch says they’re aiming to make the playoffs in year one, a tall task for an expansion team. But long term, he wants to make Boston a destination for players. And that’s a team effort.
“So far the entire team, like every person that we’ve brought into the organization, has that focus, right?” Guasch said. “On making Boston a special place. And ultimately, I know that, hey, that’s what down the line will bring us success.”
