The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) starts its 2026 season this month, but next Saturday in particular marks the start of a new era for women’s sports.
The Boston Legacy FC is set to play its inaugural match against current champions, New York and New Jersey’s Gotham FC, on March 14, marking the first professional women’s soccer team that Boston has had in almost a decade. The Legacy is one of two teams that will make up the newest NWSL franchise expansions, along with the Denver Summit FC (who will play their own inaugural match later that same day). This expansion will mean that the league now has 16 teams, double the size of the original eight teams it had at its founding in 2012.
One of those original eight teams was based in Boston. The Boston Breakers folded financially in 2017, but for a while had served as the only professional women’s sports team in the state of Massachusetts. Players like Rose Lavelle and Kristie Mewis, who now play for Gotham FC and West Ham United respectively, had previously made up the Breakers’ roster. Former footballer Sam Mewis, Kristie’s younger sister and a Massachusetts native, currently serves on the athlete advisory board for the Legacy.
Here’s what to know about the Legacy in preparation for their first game:
Their logo:
The Boston Legacy’s crest pays tribute to the swans that have made their homes in Boston. The swan has eight feathers, one for each original NWSL team, carved to be reminiscent of the cables of the Zakim Bridge across the Charles River. The team’s colors are green, white and black, with the green representing the parks in the city and the Franklin Park surrounding their home stadium.
Where they’re playing:
Although their actual home stadium will be at White Stadium near Jamaica Plain, the Boston Legacy will be playing most of their first season at Gillette Stadium. The city of Boston has pledged up to $50 million to help renovate White Stadium in time for the 2027 season, which has led to controversy from local conservationists.
Their players:
When asked what his goal in building a team was, general manager Domènec Guasch’s answer was clear: he wants to make the playoffs in their first season. Head coach Filipa Patão matches his energy, and promises to bring a passionate and aggressive style of play from the start. Patão had brought her previous club, Benfica FC, to five consecutive wins of the top Portuguese women’s soccer league (Campeonato Nacional Feminino) in her five years of coaching there.
Six Legacy players have already been called up for international team duty, and most of the team’s 24 signed players already have NWSL experience. Here are a few notable signings: Kaká is a Brazilian center back who also plays for the national team with whom she won the 2025 Copa América; forward Aïssata Traoré is the first Malian player to sign with a NWSL team; Chloe Ricketts, an American midfielder, was the first player to sign with a NWSL team under the age of 18 when she signed with the Washington Spirit at 15; and the Spaniard midfielder Alba Caño came up through La Masia, Barcelona’s youth academy, and played with them until this year.
Whether or not the Legacy achieves its goal of making it straight to playoffs, the hype leading up to their first match has been clear, and there’s already something to celebrate: this year, the Legacy will join the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s dominant Boston Fleet and the women’s tackle football reigning champion Boston Renegades to a hopefully ever-growing list of victorious Boston-based women’s sports teams.
Contact the editors responsible for this story: Finley Tipton and Katie McCabe
