Women's Soccer League Suspends Operations
Women's Soccer League Suspends Operations
Sep 15, 6:14 PM (ET) Email this Story

By KRISTEN WYATT
ATLANTA (AP) - The cash-strapped WUSA called it quits Monday just five days before the Women's World Cup, bringing an abrupt end to a soccer league built on the success of the 1999 tournament.

The decision was made by the league's board of governors at a meeting in New York.

The eight-team WUSA was filled with the world's best female players, including U.S. stars Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain and Julie Foudy. Chastain provided the signature moment in the '99 tournament when she ripped off her shirt after scoring the championship-winning goal against China.

But the attention the Women's World Cup received faded over the years, leaving the WUSA foundering. TV ratings were almost nonexistent and the league had trouble finding fans who weren't under 18 and play on a soccer team.

The WUSA hoped another World Cup this fall would bring last-minute corporate sponsorships to save the league, but that hasn't happened, said John Hendricks, chairman of the WUSA board of governors.


Hendricks blamed weak corporate support for the league's failure.

"I was intoxicated by what I witnessed in 1999, and I mistakenly believed that level of support would flow over into the league," Hendricks said.

The WUSA's owners have invested more than $100 million to fund the league, and some of the top players took pay cuts this season to help keep it afloat. Even after cutting costs, the league was about $16 million in the red.

Hendricks said the league needed eight sponsors to spend $2.5 million each per year. The WUSA recruited only two sponsors willing to spend that much, Hyundai and Johnson & Johnson.

"If we only had six or seven CEOs in America that had stepped forward in the past year," Hendricks said. "An independent women's professional league can survive - if it has corporate support."


(AP) Washington Freedom's Jennifer Grubb holds up the Founders Cup after Washington's 2-1 overtime...
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The league conceded the timing of the announcement was awkward but said the WUSA had to consider all its employees and players who aren't in the World Cup.

"We couldn't keep the doors open even another 24 hours without jeopardizing a decent and fair severance package for our employees," Hendricks said.

The league had franchises in Boston, Atlanta, San Diego, Washington, New York, San Jose, North Carolina and Philadelphia. The Washington Freedom won the title last month.

The Women's World Cup begins Saturday in Philadelphia, and the U.S. team opens the next day against Sweden in Washington, D.C. Fifty-six WUSA players are to compete in the tournament.

WUSA players took an active role in the league's management and were involved in the decision to close the league.


(AP) Washington Freedom's Abby Wambach, center, is all smiles as she lifts goalkeeper Siri Mullinix (18)...
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"The impact of the WUSA on women's sports and millions of fans has been extraordinary," said Foudy, captain of the San Diego Spirit and U.S. team, and a member of the WUSA board of governors.

The league will not dissolve entirely until next spring, Hendricks said.

"There is a glimmer of hope that a few months down the road the phone will ring" from a deep-pockets sponsor, Hendricks said.

Reyna Makes Debut for Man City
Reyna Makes Debut for Man City
Sep 14, 5:21 PM (ET) Email this Story

LONDON (AP) - U.S. captain Claudio Reyna made his debut for Manchester City on Sunday, entering as a late substitute in his team's 4-1 victory over Aston Villa in the Premier League.
Nicolas Anelka scored three goals in the second half for Manchester City, which acquired Reyna in an Aug. 29 transfer from Sunderland for almost $4 million. Man City won at home for the first time this season.

Anelka scored on penalty kicks in the 48th and the 68th minutes and again with seven minutes remaining. Michael Tarnat had the other goal for Man City. Aston Villa's Juan Pablo Angel scored on a header in the 32nd minute.

Arsenal leads the league with 13 points, followed by Manchester United with 12. Man City and Chelsea share third place with 10 points.

In Sunday's other Premier League game, Birmingham tied Fulham 2-2 in a game in which both sides finished with 10 men.

U.S. stars to bow out after 2003 Cup

Saturday, September 13, 2003

U.S. stars to bow out after 2003 Cup

Barry Wilner
Associated Press

When it all began in the 1980s, they were bright-eyed teenagers eager to make an impression on the few people interested in women's soccer. Maybe, if they were lucky, they might win a championship along the way.

As they prepare for next weekend's opening of their fourth World Cup, thirtysomethings Julie Foudy, Mia Hamm, Joy Fawcett and Kristine Lilly are the old women of the game. And among the most successful American athletes ever.

They have played in all 18 Women's World Cup matches for the United States. In 1991, with no fanfare whatsoever, they won the first world championship in their sport. Four years ago, with more headlines and national attention than they had the right to imagine, they won a second title.

In 1996, the quartet was the backbone of the gold medalist U.S. Olympic team.

It's been a wonderful run, but after this monthlong tournament, none of them will play in another World Cup.

"I was thinking about it on the bus ride from one of our games,'' says Foudy, a co-captain and spiritual leader of the U.S. team that opens play Sept. 21 against Sweden in Washington. "It usually takes awhile to bond a group, to get the meshing of young with old or young, or player to player. But it's something we've had from the start.

"I don't think of it as that last hurrah, the last World Cup. I don't think any of us approach it that way. It's more important that we focus on the team and what we can achieve.''

Playing in the United States makes it extra special for the core group of American women. How many elite athletes get the chance to win one world title at home? Much of this group -- a dozen members of the team also were on the victorious 1999 squad -- is going for two.

Naturally, for those without any future World Cup plans, they want to go out on top.

Besides the Fab Four, Brandi Chastain and Briana Scurry probably will be appearing in their final World Cup. They were two of the biggest heroines of the '99 penalty-kick shootout victory over China for the title.

Tiffeny Milbrett, the firebrand forward, and Shannon MacMillan, coming off a serious knee injury, also might not be around for the 2007 event in China, which lost this year's World Cup because of the SARS outbreak.

So, no matter how much they deny it, there has to be some regret that the joyous ride spanning three decades is almost over.

"No doubt that in 1988, '89 and '91, being together, we were young and immature and that is where our experience that everybody talks about with the core players originated,'' Chastain says.

"Relationships built over 15 years don't happen overnight. There were times when you would question yourself and what you are doing, and having people doing it with you and understanding where you are coming from makes it easier.''

Perhaps the greatest strength of the core group of veterans has been communication - on and off the field. Away from the game, the players hang out together, and many have become close friends.

During games, Foudy and Lilly, steady midfielders with a creative spark, rarely have to look for each other. They simply know who is doing what.

Both are superb passers, which has helped Hamm become the most accomplished goal scorer in soccer history. Sometimes during practices, it appears the ball is tethered among them. You get the feeling they could take the field blindfolded and still set up each other.

Fawcett has been the rock on defense, the WUSA's top defender at age 35. Her heady play has rubbed off on Kate Sobrero, who became a mainstay in '99. She provides guidance to the other young defenders: Danielle Slaton, Cat Reddick and Kylie Bivens.

Add Chastain, who did not play in the 1995 World Cup won by Norway, but otherwise has been a national team fixture, and the United States won't lack for guile.

But the most significant contributions from Foudy, Lilly, Hamm, Fawcett and Chastain have come through their leadership.

Until the Atlanta Olympics, they barely were recognized outside soccer circles, but already were well-known for their comportment on the U.S. team. In 1999, they took on the role of pioneers for women's sports, and they've never shied away from that responsibility.

U.S. coach April Heinrichs, who played with the team's veterans, has called Foudy "a legend'' for her upfront role in the fight for sporting equality.

Hamm is a soccer icon, the most visible player in the game who can hold her own with Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods as a marketing magnet.

Lilly's dedication to the national squad has made her the most capped player in the world. Fawcett is a soccer mom who has combined family and football better than anyone. Chastain's competitive fire is unsurpassed.

Are they all still at the peak of their game? Almost certainly not, which is why this will be their last hurrah in a World Cup.

Are they still capable of lifting the United States to a third title in four tries? Absolutely.

As Heinrichs notes: "There will never be another generation like these five players.''