Reign are ready to turn the page on tough 2024

The 2024 Seattle Reign season will obviously be one to forget. They finished second to last in 13th place on 23 points, with 6 wins, 5 draws, and 15 losses. That loss total beats their previous worst record of 14 losses, which came in the inaugural 2013 season, where they finished 7th in the then 8-team league.

The 2024 season was bad, very bad.

Having had a few days to recuperate from their regular season finale, a loss at Orlando Pride, Reign head coach Laura Harvey, general manager Lesle Gallimore, and midfielder Jess Fishlock, who signed a new contract with the club earlier today, spoke with media at the Providence Swedish Performance Center & Clubhouse about the dismal season, the bright spots within it, and their shared excitement about 2025 now that the sale of the club is finally done and they can focus on building a full-season roster with the intention of being playoff and title contenders.

Reflecting on "Resilience"

First up to offer their reflection on the 2024 season was Gallimore. This was her first full year in the position and in her look back at the season, she praised the resilience of the players for sticking together even through the losses, something that multiple players brought up in their end-of-season meetings this week.

"The thing that has stuck out to me the absolute most this week, looking back at the season and talking to players, has been the resilience of this group. I think if you watched our games this season, what you saw was a group that fought constantly. We had a lot of close games – a lot of young players came in, a lot of new players came in, there were some injuries that hit us at the wrong time, and this group is never going to be a group from the coaching staff through the players that uses any of that as an excuse. They fought every game to try to win. It just didn't happen as many times as we wanted it to. So looking back on the season, I think for me, as general manager of the group, my proudest thing is the resiliency of the group and that they stuck together.

"This week, it's been really insightful and reaffirming to hear from players on how they feel about one another, how they feel about the club. It speaks to sort of the DNA of what Reign has always been, which is a group that sticks together and moves forward a positive way and learns from the things that have have taken place. Laura, I think will echo: Is anyone pleased with where we finished the season? Absolutely not. Will we look at it and review the things that we can do better at moving forward? 100%."

Harvey spoke next, and reflected on how much uncertainty there was before the 2024 season even began with the then-unsettled sale of the club, injuries, and other "uncontrollable things" that impacted the club.

"We've had a lot of change. You know? I think 14 new players walked through the door – that's a lot. And I think outside of that an ownership change, which from a cultural perspective is a shift. There was a lot of uncertainty at the start of the season. That uncertainties quickly became known that, you know, the club was gonna stay in Seattle for one – that was a big thing. And then throughout, there's just been things that some uncontrollable things that happen, whether it be injury, whether it be people moving in and out of the club, that I think have impacted us. But, again, to Lesle's point, they're not excuses that are being made. I think it's just reality of the situation. Are we happy with the results? No. Do I think that there was some bright spots along the way? Absolutely. I think we were in a lot of the games that we ended up losing for long periods.

"Arguably, a lot of the things were down to not necessarily, you know, the shape or the system that we're trying to play or the way we're trying to play. It might be down to individual error or something like that. Obviously, I think one thing we know is that we need to make sure that we can concede less goals, and make it as difficult as possible for the opponent. On the other side of the game, creating chances, scoring goals. That's how you win football matches, which you guys have heard from me for a long time. So yeah, there's a lot of reflection, looking at it through an analytical lens as well when you take emotion away from it that we can definitely look at and move forward from."

Harvey's contract

While it was announced today that Fishlock had signed a one-year extension keeping her in Seattle through the 2025 season, it's also notable that Harvey herself is entering the final year of her current contract, which she signed in 2023. She was asked if there have been conversations about a new contract or if it's a wait and see based on how the team performs in 2025.

"I think obviously with where we're at, I think there's a lot of unknowns, all really exciting unknowns, and I think what we want to try and do is look forward into what 2025 looks like for us all," she remarked. "I think you can probably feel and see here we're all really excited about what that could be. It's no secret that I care about this club a lot. I think coming back and the three years that we've had have shown that there's some growth that needs to happen right now. We've been in a bit of a transition this past year with a lot of things happening, and I think we feel like we're on a path right now with the new ownership that have come in. That's really exciting to push this club forward. I feel like we've fought for a lot of things over the years, and I feel like now when we sit in rooms, I don't feel like we're fighting too much anymore, which is probably the biggest compliment I can give to the people in the room above me – to know that they're on the same page immediately. I think that that's so exciting for what 2025 and beyond can offer.

"What my future holds is determined on multiple things, and I'm not scared of what that looks like. I know that my job is to ultimately win games on the field. Obviously this year we didn't have the season that we necessarily wanted to have in that respect, but I'm excited for what the off-season can be, and then what will 2025 look like."

A most important offseason

When you look at the 2024 Seattle Reign season, there is the simple truth that this was a roster that did not win enough games. There's no denying that, but it was also a roster that was assembled under the uncertainty of a pending sale. OL Groupe, the then-owners of the club, announced in April 2023 their intention to sell the team. Gallimore was hired as general manager soon thereafter and throughout the 2023 season she basically had to learn on the fly and get caught up on the needs of the roster. While NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman infamously said that she expected the sale of the Reign to be done by the end of 2023, the sale wasn't closed and formally announced as complete until June of this year. The result was a January 2024 transfer window in which the team was limited in their resources and faced with uncertainty which limited their ability to make the moves they needed to in order to address the departures, headlined by the retirement of Megan Rapinoe, along with Rose Lavelle and Emily Sonnett signing with Gotham FC as free agents.

This offseason, with expanded NWSL free agency, the end of the college draft, and the upcoming winter transfer window, will be the test for Gallimore and Harvey in bringing in players, be it as free agents, via trade, or by signing a player from abroad. While Gallimore did not want to tip her hand, she did mention the obvious need to have someone that can reliably put the ball into the back of the net.

"We're still having player meetings and having discussions with players about where they see themselves and how they feel about continuing (here) or hitting free agency," she said. "So right now I think everyone wants a goal scorer – a go-to big time goal scorer – and we'll always try to look for that game-changing type of player. But outside of that I don't think we're ready to get into specifics yet [about signing targets], but we have had several internal conversations about what that looks like and what the project is for 2025."

"I wanted it to be Lesle."

While Gallimore and Harvey have known each other for years, 2024 was the first full season in which they collaborated together as general manager and head coach. What might be a revelation for some fans was that Harvey thought back to when Gallimore was announced as general manager last summer, because she wanted her. Both talked about how the overall experience has been, especially navigating a tough season on the field and why the stability provided by the new ownership of the Carlyle Group and Seattle Sounders has them excited about 2025.

"It's been good," said Gallimore about her experience in her first full season as general manager. "And like anything, I think you approach it eyes wide open, with the idea that you wanna learn and grow as people into your job, into the role. And certainly coming in when I took the position a year ago June in the middle of a sale, we've gone over this blah blah, the timing of the of the transition and all that. There was a lot coming at me.

"And the good news about that is I knew I took the job with Laura at the helm, who is a veteran in this league, someone who's managed the team herself before as a manager on the field and a manager with the roster. So I was all about learning things from her. And I think in a year, we've learned to go to each other's strengths and to rely on one another when, maybe there's some uncertainty. I think that piece has been the best part of the year... we've learned that, okay moving forward, we need to make sure that the alignment is clear across the board. I know that the two of us with both of our backgrounds, with both of our ability to lead from either different positions or different perspectives, is a real positive for this club."

Harvey followed up with, "I was just thinking back to when when Lesle came in and literally was being thrown things daily, and me being one of them throwing things a lot. Because I think we were just in desperate need for someone to come in and grab hold of it. Obviously, I was part of the the process of who that person could be, and I was really open and adamant that I wanted it to be Lesle for multiple reasons.

"One was she's so committed to this community, knows what it takes. At the time where we were, the leadership around (the club) didn't really know that. That was a huge, huge part of it. Obviously, we had a relationship already, we sort of already knew each other and had a mutual respect around who we are and what we try to do.

"And from a coaching perspective, I'm gonna want everything right now. Like, that's what I want – every single thing, right now. And along the way, it's always had to be, well, we might not be able to get it right now, but how can we make sure that we get it for the future? And, going back to where we are as a club now (compared to) when Lesle came in, it was more uncertain than it ever had been before. It was crazy. The uncertainty around what was going on was wild, and it's taking that uncertainty away and sort of finding our path, what our yellow brick road looks like and how we can find our way back to that pot of gold is the most exciting part about it. How do we generate what that looks like with the stability around what the club looks like now with the new ownership. So, yeah, really excited about what that can look like."

Gallimore then added in another comment praising Chief Business Officer Maya Mendoza-Exstrom and Adrian Hanauer, who represents the club at the NWSL Board of Governors level, for their respective knowledge and experience in soccer at the executive level saying, "We've been out there kind of twisting in the wind by ourselves (before the sale). And so from an executive leadership standpoint, to be able to have other high-level leaders mentoring you, supporting you, guiding you, from a knowledgeable position in the game is game-changing for both of us. That piece is going to shine a light on what what Laura and I both are capable of and help us both excel more than we've been able to."

Notables

Defender and captain Lauren Barnes remains in discussions with the team about her future, as her current contract is coming to an end. Gallimore said, "I'm personally in constant contact with her about what's next, how that looks, what she wants to have happen, and to try to get to a point where we make a good decision based on where she is in her football, where she's in her health, where she is in her head and what she wants to do. She's someone whose opinion we'll respect and work with to see what's next for her. We're not at that point yet. She had several things happen. She was kind of in and out towards the end of the year (with injuries) as well, and we just want to make sure that she feels like she's got it to move forward."

Jess Fishlock praised goalkeeper Claudia Dickey and midfielder Ji So-yun for what each brings to the locker room, saying, "Claudia has been here for a while and I'm really proud of the steps that she's taken on the field and off the field. She's great in the locker room and she generally just wants to get better each day and that's kind of infectious. And Ji is just Ji, she's great. She's in the locker room and is just being herself and helping and making everybody better. And I'm actually really looking forward to having her back next year and kind of all coming together again to take us to another level. I really do love them both and they're great. They're great in our locker room and that's a credit to them."

Fishlock's 2024 season was just limited to 18 appearances, in large part because of a leg injury that sidelined her for the remainder of the season after the September 9 match at Angel City. She noted that the injury didn't play into her decision to return for another year, saying, "I wanted to come back regardless of that. The decision to want to come back was made well before that situation. I just knew earlier on that that I didn't want to quite hang up my boots, as you would say, and that there's plenty left in this tank. So just really, happy and grateful that I was able to do that here."

You can watch Seattle Reign FC's end of season press conference with Laura Harvey, Jess Fishlock, and Lesle Gallimore in full below.