RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Richmond is getting a new professional sports team which will begin playing next year.
The United Soccer League (USL) announced on Saturday, July 15 that Richmond will be the home of a new USL W League expansion team, which will be affiliated with the Richmond Kickers of USL League 1.
The new team, which will begin at the start of the 2024 season, will be USL W League’s third in Virginia, joining McLean Soccer Women in Fairfax County, Northern Virginia FC Women in Leesburg and Virginia Marauders FC Women in Winchester.
“We are beyond excited to return back into the W League,” said Richmond Kickers Chairman and CEO Rob Ukrop. “Richmond is a wonderful soccer community with strong youth clubs that have produced some incredible young women that have played at the top levels of the game through the last 15 years. We hope our team will provide inspiration for the next generation of young girls to aspire to the next levels in Richmond and beyond.”
The last pro women’s soccer team to play in Richmond was the Richmond Kickers Destiny, who played from 2005 to 2009. The Richmond Kickers Destiny featured several players who would go on to play in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and their respective national teams, including Becky Sauerbrunn, Nikki Phillips and Chesterfield native Chantel Jones.
