The 2021 Chicago Red Stars season was the team's thirteenth season and ninth season in the National Women's Soccer League, the top tier of women's soccer in the United States.
Team
Management and staff
Technical staff Medical staff
Rory Dames resignation
On November 22, 2021, two days after losing to the Washington Spirit in the NWSL championship final, the Chicago Red Stars announced that head coach Rory Dames had resigned effective immediately. Later that day, The Washington Post sports reporter Molly Hensley-Clancy reported that prior to resigning, the Post had approached the Red Stars front office with allegations from players, both previous and current, of abuse by Dames. The Post also provided documentation of reports made to United States Soccer Federation by players, including Christen Press, dating as far back as 2014 that detailed abuse, harassment, and inappropriate use of Dames's power as head coach to manipulate players. “Three former Red Stars players, including one who played on the team at the time of the investigation, told The Post that they had wanted to speak to U.S. Soccer investigators but had never heard from them,” reported Hensley-Clancy. “Two had left the team because of Dames's abuse, they said.”
On November 24, the Red Stars ownership released a statement apologizing to "Christen Press, Jennifer Hoy, Samantha Johnson and those players who didn't feel safe to come forward" and saying that "our club will require significant reflection and evaluation to ensure this does not happen again."
First-team squad
No. Pos.NationPlayer
Out on loan No. Pos. Nation Player
Competitions
Challenge Cup
Group stage
West Division standings
Regular season
Matches
Regular season standings
Results summary
Results by matchday
Playoffs
Matches
Transactions
2021 NWSL Draft
Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. The 2021 NWSL Draft was held on January 13, 2021.
Round Pick Player College Status Ref. 1 7 FW Stanford Returned to Stanford; did not make final 2022 roster 2 18 FW Santa Clara Returned to Santa Clara; traded to San Diego Wave FC in December 2021 3 25 DF Washington State Returned to Washington State; did not make final 2022 roster 4 32 FW Ole Miss Returned to Ole Miss; signed contract in 2022 35 FW Virginia Not offered a contract
Transfers out Date Player Destination club Fee/notes March 29, 2021 FW Houston Dash Rights traded in exchange for Houston's natural second-round pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft. November 30, 2021 DF Adelaide United FC Loaned until March 28, 2022. December 2, 2021 FW San Diego Wave FC Traded in exchange for protection in the 2022 NWSL Expansion Draft and an undisclosed amount of allocation money. FW FW MF Angel City FC Traded with international slots in 2022 and 2023 in exchange for protection in the 2022 NWSL Expansion Draft. DF MF OL Reign Traded for a third-round pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft. December 8, 2021 DF — Retired.
References
External links