On March 14, Boston’s newest professional women’s soccer team, Legacy Football Club (Legacy FC), played their first game and season opener at Gillette Stadium in front of a record-breaking audience of 30,207 people. The Boston team held the defending champions of last season, Gotham Football Club, to a 1-0 differential, marking a strong start to their National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) debut.
The team’s debut has been in the making since the 2018 closure of the Boston’s former women’s professional soccer team Boston Breakers due to low attendance. Many investors and Boston sports fans in the past eight years were doubtful about the likelihood of another women’s team’s success; recent attendance successes for Legacy FC, however, suggest that current Boston sports fans are raring to go and support women’s sports. Boston Latin School girls’ varsity soccer player Elle Sullivan (III) states, “I think it is a great step in the right direction to close the gender gap in professional sports.” People always herald Boston as an enthusiastic and sprawling sports city, so it is only fitting to see the enthusiasm spread over to the women’s side.
The positive impacts of new NWSL teams can be seen beyond the pitch. Teams like Legacy FC have already found ways to uplift girls’ sports in the communities around them and inspire the next generation of female athletes.
The City of Boston and Mayor Michelle Wu are also working to create more widespread access to women’s soccer by providing Boston Public Schools students with free tickets to see Legacy FC at Gillette Stadium during games this season. Emme Knight-Bairstow (IV), a BLS soccer player, shares, “It can be motivating and exciting to finally see more [female] representation in the sport while also creating a community and inspiring younger players.”
The journey to the team’s first game, however, has been far from easy, specifically for securing the new team a home stadium. Home games are being held temporarily at Gillette Stadium and Centreville Bank Stadium, but the Boston Soccer Unity Project is aiming to build their team a permanent home in the renovated White Stadium in Franklin Park. The City of Boston has supported this pursuit under the condition that the stadium will also host BPS sports events. Projected costs have increased significantly from the outlook, however, as the City announced in February that it would be paying 135 million dollars instead of the proposed 91 million dollars.
The team’s head coach Filipa Patão has also personally taken the time to invest in the local girls’ soccer scene. This fall, she attended the Boston Latin School vs. Boston Latin Academy girls’ varsity soccer Latin Derby match, where she gave some inspirational words to both teams and chatted with many fans at Clemente Field. BLS girls’ varsity soccer captain Leila Ohashi (I) states, “It is great to see how this team has been invested in youth sports, especially for Boston Public Schools. It meant a lot to me and the other seniors that she came and spoke to us before the game.”
There is, nevertheless, significant opposition to the project, most notably from the Emerald Necklace Conservancy’s lawsuit against the renovation. A Suffolk Superior
Court Judge heard the case last year, where they later ruled in favor of the renovation in March of 2025. The Emerald Necklace Conservancy has continued to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Judicial Court by asserting that the renovation project violates Article 97 of the Massachusetts State Constitution, which protects private parks from conversion into a space for commercial and professional use. The case was heard earlier this month, with a decision expected in the next few months. The demolition of White Stadium, however, had already occurred, with the goal of opening for the 2027 spring season.
In the last decade, women’s sports have increased significantly in popularity across the board. Recently, the Women’s National Basketball Association experienced record attendance and viewership due in part to stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. The Boston Fleet Hockey team has also made their mark in the local sports scene in Boston. Similarly, the NWSL has monumentally expanded its following in the past decade, with a 22 percent increase in viewership in the 2025 season alone.
With the arrival of Legacy FC, future support and connection will only increase between the team and girls’ youth soccer programs in New England, inspiring increased enthusiasm and development in women’s sports across the board. Looking towards the future, there will be many exciting Legacy FC games, and if they follow Boston’s sports trends, many a championship to celebrate.