Bad newsGotham FC Moves Home Semifinal to a 5,000-Seat Stadium After a Cut-Up Pitch
The NWSL’s top seed will host Kansas City on Sunday at Icahn Stadium, which holds 5,000, instead of its 20,000-plus home, because of the field. The Washington Spirit face a separate clash with a college football game.
This story runs on the bad side only. The biggest stories of the day are told on both sides.
Gotham FC, the top seed in the National Women’s Soccer League playoffs, will play its semifinal against the Kansas City Current on Sunday at Icahn Stadium on New York’s Randall’s Island. The venue holds 5,000 spectators. The club’s usual home, Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, seats more than 20,000, according to the CBC, which carried the Associated Press report.
The club announced the move on Monday and cited concerns about the quality of the playing surface. Kickoff is at 3 p.m. Eastern, with ABC and ESPN Deportes broadcasting.
What the pitch looked like
The CBC says the field was riddled with brown spots and divots for Sunday’s 1-0 quarterfinal win over the Seattle Reign. The stadium had hosted the MLS Red Bulls’ regular-season finale against Atlanta United the day before, and a rugby match earlier in the week. Coach Juan Carlos Amorós said after the game that he felt he almost had to apologise for the state of the pitch.
Yael Averbuch West, the club’s president of soccer operations, said the decision came after consultation with the coach, the team captains and ownership. She wrote that the club put a playing surface that lets athletes perform at their best first. The club says it “exhausted every possible avenue” before moving the game. Neither source says who is responsible for the pitch, or whether the schedule of events at the stadium was discussed with the league.
Who loses out
The cost falls on supporters. Gotham reached the semifinals for the fourth consecutive season and, the club says, earned the right to host one at home for the first time in its history. It is the defending champion, won its first NWSL Shield as regular-season winner, and set club records for wins, points and shutouts.
Tickets for Sunday will be released in phases, and the first phase goes to season-ticket holders. With less than a quarter of the usual capacity, most supporters will not get in. Captain Tierna Davidson wrote to fans: “A smaller stadium means many of you will not be there, and that is the hardest part of this decision.”
A second venue problem
The Washington Spirit have a different clash. After a 4-1 quarterfinal win over the Portland Thorns, the club said its semifinal against the Utah Royals on Saturday would be played at Audi Field. The AP says the stadium was also set to host the Secretaries’ Cup, a college football game between the US Coast Guard Academy and the US Merchant Marine Academy.
It was unclear on Monday whether that game would move to another time, day or venue. Emails from the AP to the organisers were not immediately answered. The winners of the two semifinals advance to the NWSL championship on 21 November at Audi Field.
What to watch
Two of the four semifinal clubs are dealing with venue problems in the same week. Neither source says whether the league has a rule on minimum pitch standards for the playoffs, or whether it plans to review the arrangement.
For ticket-holders in New Jersey, the practical effect is a smaller crowd and a trip to Manhattan. For the players, the club says the effect is a surface that lets them perform at their best.
