We planned your women’s soccer year. Plus: Which players got married this offseason?

6 days ago 2

Full Time Newsletter ⚽| This is The Athletic’s weekly women’s soccer newsletter. Sign up here to receive Full Time directly in your inbox.

The Athletic’s newsletters got a new look to start 2026 (subscribe here to see it in your inbox). Don’t worry, you can expect the same great weekly content — just with cooler clothes.

In today’s Full Time:

🗓️ Key dates in 2026

💍 Wedding season

⚽ Sex work and soccer

No more holiday hangovers, it’s time to get the planners out …

Happy New Year

Mark your calendars

January is the month to get your life sorted, set intentions and keep all those resolutions — OK, maybe not that last part.

As for sorting out your life, the soccer calendar isn’t so kind to those looking to ease into the year. This month has the return of the Women’s Super League from its winter break, two U.S. women’s national team games and the new FIFA Women’s Champions Cup in London, featuring the NWSL champions, Gotham FC.

We have just what your refrigerators need: a printable calendar covering some key dates this month.

As for the rest of the year, we are keeping our eyes on these key moments:

February: Manchester City and Chelsea face off in a crucial clash at the top of the WSL table (Feb. 1), the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup final (Feb. 1), NWSL teams report to preseason, Challenge Cup between Gotham FC and KC Current (Feb. 20), UEFA World Cup qualifying starts, SheBelieves Cup

March: NWSL regular season starts (March 13), UEFA Women’s Champions League quarterfinals, Women’s Africa Cup of Nations

April: FA Cup and Champions League semifinals

May: European seasons end, FA Cup final, Champions League final, my birthday

June: More World Cup qualifying, no NWSL matches due to summer break and the men’s World Cup (June 1-28)

September: European seasons start

October: NWSL end of season

November: NWSL Championship (Nov. 21), U.S. starts World Cup qualifiers

I may be anti-resolutions, but for those of you who aren’t, Elise Devlin on our Peak team has advice from top athletes about how to set and keep those yearly promises.

Speaking of: Peak is joining our newsletter world Thursday! Their new offering will cover stories on the mental side of sports, such as how to drink coffee like Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell, and tips from a gold medalist on how to say sorry less.

More 2026 predictions

While we’re on this whole new year, fresh start business, MoneyCall writer Dan Shanoff asked me for two 2026 women’s soccer predictions to go in his newsletter last week. (See the full list from around the sports world here.)

This is what I told him:

NWSL: The league has enjoyed exponential growth in recent years: a $240 million media-rights deal, $100 million-plus expansion fees and at least three more teams entering the league by 2028. However, I think 2026 is the year the NWSL could stumble a little. The latest is the “High Impact Player” rule meant to try to keep Trinity Rodman, which might actually cause at least one big name to leave.

Global women’s soccer: Angel City FC co-founder Julie Uhrman said in 2023 that the club would become “the first women’s team to have a billion-dollar valuation in five years.” After Alexis Ohanian bought Chelsea women this year, he had a bold prediction that they would become the first billion-dollar club. His investment brought Chelsea to roughly $200 million. If I am going to be equally as bullish, I think 2026 will see the first $500 million valuation.

Across the pond, soccer writer Nick Miller also had a fun prediction of his own: He thinks England forward Chloe Kelly will score an implausibly important goal, which is possible in a World Cup qualifying year. She’s scored plenty of big goals before:

The extra-time winner in the Euro 2022 final

The winning penalty in the Finalissima as the European champions beat South American counterparts Brazil

The winning penalty against Nigeria in the round of 16 at the 2023 World Cup

The winning goal in their Euro 2025 semifinal

The winning penalty in that final’s shootout

📧 Let us know what you see coming in 2026 on social or send us an email at fulltime@theathletic.com.

🎧 Need to get caught up on the NWSL’s HIP rule? Theo Lloyd-Hughes and Tamerra Griffin have the 101 on the “Full Time” podcast.

Goin’ to the Chapel

And we’re gonna get married

The NWSL offseason, once understood as a sacred hibernation, is becoming anything but. There are spicy trades galore, and also: weddings. Lots of them! I can no longer keep track of all of the nuptials that go on. Luckily, I have Tamerra, who has been keeping tabs:

When else is a professional women’s soccer player supposed to schedule their nuptials, especially if they want other professional soccer players to attend?

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but consider this slew of ceremonies: Marta and Carrie Lawrence in Florida, Ally Watt in Michigan, Kayla Sharples in Illinois, Tara McKeown in Mexico, Savannah McCaskill in North Carolina and Ellie Wheeler in Arizona. And that’s just NWSL players, because I’d be remiss to leave out the mega-wedding of Sam Kerr and Kristie Mewis on the west coast of Australia that spanned New Year’s Eve and featured in Vogue Australia.

Such a smart move on their part, because what better way to entice your pals away from their own winter holidays than planning a destination wedding in the southern hemisphere?

With these rituals come another: potentially committing new surnames to memory when the NWSL season starts back up in a few months. According to Instagram, it appears Watt has added Brazier to her last name (rather than a full swap), Tara is now Rudd and Ellie is now Bravo-Young. My advice? Start preparing your flashcards now.

Need to Know

A standstill in negotiations over ‘livable wages’

The collective bargaining agreement for the men of the United Soccer League expired five days ago, despite negotiating for a new deal since Aug. 29, 2024. The players association says it’s not looking for extravagance, but rather a “livable wage.”

While the current negotiations are focused on the men’s league, a separate discussion is happening with the Gainbridge Super League (under the same umbrella) for the women’s league to ratify its first CBA. USL launched the professional Division I women’s league last summer. The men’s players mentioned it as a point of growth for the USL in their bargaining. As a reminder:

The Super League is the second DI women’s league in the U.S., alongside the NWSL.

Players in the Super League took the first step toward bargaining for their first CBA in early December, telling The Athletic they hoped this first negotiated contract would set a standard across all teams and allow the league to flourish and remain sustainable in the long term.

While the USLPA also represents the women’s players, the women’s negotiations are separate from the men’s.

It’s unclear what happens next for the USL now that the men’s Dec. 31 deadline has passed, but what is clear is the players’ united front. “We’re living parallel lives,” Meaghan Nally, a center back for the Carolina Ascent, told The Athletic. “We’re all professional soccer players, so their fight is our fight.”

Full Time First Looks

‘Stick to OnlyFans!’ Katie Whyatt spoke to five sex workers for whom soccer is a significant part of their online brand, including using social media as a platform to pose in soccer jerseys and lingerie, sometimes reacting to matches in innuendo-laden videos. But the crossover isn’t without its drawbacks, as Whyatt found out.

ICYMI: Our 2025 review of the USWNT is just what you need before the real fun kicks off later this month. Last year saw heavy roster rotation, both necessary and experimental. Will 2026 see the return of Triple Espresso?

Building something: Boston Legacy has been ramping up its roster ahead of the NWSL season. Their latest move is bringing in defender Nicki Hernández from Club America in Liga MX Femenil. The 26-year-old was originally a forward before converting to left back in Mexico. She joins Canadian international Bianca St-Georges as the club’s most recent signings.

What an honour: England headlined the 2026 King’s New Year Honours List with manager Sarina Wiegman receiving an honorary damehood and five players recognized for services to the sport. Move over Dame Helen Mirren, Dame Sarina Wiegman is here.

📫 Love Full Time? These stories can also be found on Yahoo’s women’s sports hub, in partnership with The Athletic. Also, check out our other newsletters.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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