Gotham FC have signed Crystal Dunn, the club announced early on the morning of New Year’s Eve.
Dunn joins Gotham on a contract that runs through 2026, leaving the club Gotham defeated to win the NWSL Championship in November, the Portland Thorns, after three seasons and some significant off-field controversy involving her husband, an ex-Thorns trainer.
The cross-country transfer brings the 2019 World Cup champion back home, as Dunn hails from Long Island. It’s also a significant get for Gotham FC, as Dunn is a former NWSL MVP and a three-time NWSL Champion coming off a strong season with the Thorns that saw her score five goals and add two assists in 19 matches.
It’s a DUNN deal. 😏✍️#GothamFC signs World Cup and NWSL Champion @Cdunn19 through 2026.
— NJ/NY Gotham FC (@GothamFC) December 31, 2023
Dunn confirmed her exit from Portland Thorns on November 9, and it’s been a guessing game as to her next team since. Orlando Pride and one of Dunn’s ex-clubs, Washington Spirit, were considered other leading contenders to sign the midfielder.
In signing Dunn, Gotham strengthens a midfield that just lost another member of the USWNT, with Kristie Mewis leaving to join West Ham United in England’s WSL.
Along with the Mewis departure, the Bats have seen a trio of players head to the reborn Utah Royals—goalkeeper Mandy Haught, plus forwards Imani Dorsey and Ify Onumonu—while also trading defender Ellie Jean to Bay FC. There’s also been the retirement of Ali Krieger, so changes are plentiful for the champion NWSL side that calls Red Bull Arena home.
The addition of Dunn bolsters a Gotham squad that still features a fellow USWNT fixture in forward Lynn Williams, reigning NWSL Rookie of the Year Jenna Nighswonger, plus attacking talents like Midge Purce and Spanish 2023 World Cup winner Esther González.
Signing Crystal Dunn also puts Gotham back in the headlines to close out a year that saw the club reach great heights, winning the franchise’s first-ever NWSL championship, capping a drastic 2023 turnaround for the team that finished dead-last in NWSL in 2022.
You can read Gotham’s full announcement of the Dunn signing here.
