NWSL report sheds light on concerns of retaliation at Kansas City Current

The National Women’s Soccer League and NWSL Players Association released a 125-page report Wednesday following a 14-month joint investigation into the failures of NWSL clubs, U.S. Soccer and the league itself to protect its players from misconduct.

Included in the report were concerns of retaliation toward Kansas City Current players by former Current coach Huw Williams. The Current released a statement on Wednesday evening following the report’s release.

“The joint NWSL/NWSLPA report released today is another important step forward in our journey to build a league focused foremost on player health, safety and respect,” the statement read. “We’re working together to build a league that our fans are proud to support and our players are proud to participate in.

“We stand with every athlete who has come forward to share their experiences. From day one, our priority to be a player-first organization has guided our decisions every day, at all levels.”

Huw Williams was head coach of the KC Current during the team’s inaugural 2021 season but was relieved of his duties at season’s end. He remained with the club, however, reassigned to a scouting and front-office role.

A club spokesperson told The Star on Wednesday that Williams has not been employed by the Current since November — last month.

“In August 2021, as detailed in the report, KC Current ownership met with all players,” the Current’s statement continued. “We understood their concern to be lack of quality training, preparation and player communication. As such, we took the following actions: we addressed performance-related issues related to former employee and then-head coach Huw Williams and started the search for a new head coach.

“The club sincerely apologizes to any player who has experienced anything other than our unequivocal player-first environment. At our core, this is who we are. It defines and guides everything we do.”

The report indeed noted that KC Current players met with owners Angie and Chris Long in August 2021 and raised concerns about Williams’ ineffectiveness as a coach and “negative and discouraging comments towards players.”

According to the report, the outline for the players’ meeting with the Longs included alleged comments that Williams had made toward players, including, “I’m going to ream her ass,” and, “You’re a pain in my ass.” Other alleged comments included, “I do this (drill) with my 12-year-olds,” and, “I do this with my U14s.”

The report stated that the players felt those comments disrespected them as professionals.

During his interview with the joint investigative team hired by the NWSL and NWSLPA, Williams reported being told of the meeting by the Longs and a staff member, and that the players were “not happy because the team was not doing well.”

Williams said “club leaders” told him about specific players who organized the players-owners meeting, although he said he did not know the names of all of the players who participated.

The report also said the players noted that Williams apologized to the team the day after the meeting — but that they did not feel the club took adequate action to address their concerns. Multiple players expressed to each other, the report said, that they wouldn’t be surprised if they were subsequently traded for speaking up during the meeting.

Just one of the six players who spoke during that meeting returned for the 2022 season. One was waived after the 2021 season despite the fact that she’d signed a multi-year contract extension with the Current before the August meeting between the players and the Longs.

From the report: “One player who spoke up at the meeting and was subsequently traded shared that because she and other players spoke up, ‘We all knew we were going to be traded.’ Another player recalled this teammate remarking that she would not be surprised if she was traded after the meeting.”

Owner Angie Long agreed to be interviewed by the group conducting the investigation. She told investigators that she did not recall many details of her discussions with Williams about player transactions, adding that Williams offered a soccer-related reason for one of those moves.

The report stated that Williams also gave investigators a “non-retaliatory justification” for the transactions. The report said he explained the various departures by saying, “We needed to make a lot of changes — we were last (in the league). ... The changes we made were to become a better soccer team.”

Angie Long told investigators that Williams was removed as head coach because “he wasn’t winning.”

During a Wednesday news conference about the report’s overall findings, NWSLPA executive director Megan Burke would not comment directly on the fact that Williams remained employed by the Current until November.

She did, however, say that “reshuffling people who commit misconduct is not the way forward to a safer future.”

The Current’s statement also said the club hired a new coach and general manager before the 2022 season, also noting the Current are aiming to create “an environment where every player has the resources they deserve to realize their maximum potential.”

Continued the statement: “The club is committed to improving player safety and support in reporting misconduct of any nature. To that end, the club has provided players with multiple reporting outlets and restructured the organizational chart to create layers of independence. Every decision we make as a club will continue to focus on the advancement of our players, the NWSL and women’s professional soccer.”

The joint investigation was initiated in October 2021 following reporting by The Athletic that detailed allegations by two former Portland Thorns players of sexual abuse and coercion by former Portland head coach Paul Riley. In subsequent months, multiple NWSL coaches were fired for cause after complaints of physical, emotional and sexual abuse, discrimination and retaliation.

Many of the findings in the report released Wednesday echo determinations made in the Sally Yates investigation initiated by U.S. Soccer, which was released in October.

“This report clearly reflects how our league systemically failed to protect our players. On behalf of the Board and the league, let me first and foremost sincerely apologize to our players for those failures and missteps,” NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman said in a statement Wednesday.

“I also commend and am grateful for the courage current and former players demonstrated in advocating for themselves, their teammates and the future of our sport. Our players’ bravery prompted this comprehensive and unprecedented investigation, which has left no stone unturned and will be critical to informing our future as we work to heal this league, take corrective action, and implement systemic reform.

“We are committed to making all the necessary changes to create a safe and positive environment for our players, staff, and fans.”

This story was originally published December 14, 2022 at 4:18 PM with the headline "NWSL report sheds light on concerns of retaliation at Kansas City Current."