3 things on Gotham FC's offseason to-do list before the 2026 season | OneFootball

Now that the 2025 NWSL Championship win is a few weeks in the past, the focus of NJ/NY Gotham FC has now fully shifted into the offseason mode. And while the memories of last off-season's exodus still play in the minds of Gotham fans, this should prove to be a much quieter and more addition-laden offseason.

The main reason for the potentially quieter offseason is that Gotham FC got much of their offseason work completed during the season. The work started with head coach Juan Carlos Amorós signing a contract extension in April and multiple players following suit. These players include Bruninha, Ryan Campbell, Tierna Davidson, Esther González, Khyah Harper, Jaelin Howell, and Sarah Schupansky.

Add to that the Jaedyn Shaw trade (and extension), and Gotham probably already acquired one of their main target for this offseason back in September. It's a stark departure from what was seen last offseason, where a lot of the work occurred after the 2024 campaign.

While bringing back the majority of a championship-winning team is the smart thing to do, in pro sports, if a team is not moving forward, then they are moving backwards, so continuing to add to this group is the best way to not only potentially repeat as both league and continental champions, but also to deal with the increased game load in 2026.

Re-sign Midge Purce

Gotham FC had three players who are no longer under contract following the 2025 season. Midge Purce and Ella Stevens are free agents, while Geyse's loan from Manchester United Women F.C. expires at the end of the year. The Bats already confirmed that the latter two will be departing the club, but that they are in talks to bring Purce back for 2026.

Purce has had a roller coaster last two years. After winning the Championship Game MVP in 2023 to tearing her ACL six months later, and signing a one-year contract last offseason, Purce made her return to the field in April, nearly 13 months after her injury. While she only managed three goal contributions in 27 games, she would be forgiven for not having the most productive season after such a long injury layoff. Watching her, though, it's very clear to see that the end-of-season version of Purce is much closer to what fans are accustomed to seeing.

She is not only an important piece for Gotham on the field, but also a great ambassador for the club off the field. Re-signing her would not only make the team better, but it would also be a nice level of continuity that helps in building this team's fanbase and growing the attendance figures.

Trim and simplify the existing Gotham squad

Gotham FC's current roster construction is a bit convoluted. They currently have 24 of their 26 roster spots filled, but some are out on loan, injured, or have a contract that ends soon. They have two players, Davidson and Taryn Torres, who will start next season on the season-ending injury list. Davidson is expected to return pretty early on, while Torres will be out for most of, if not the entirety of, the 2026 season.

In addition to those two, there are Kayla Duran and Katie Stengel, who are signed through the FIFA Women's Champions Cup, which ends on February 1. And finally, they have two players on loan, Stella Nyamekye and Princess Ademiluyi, at Fort Lauderdale United FC of the USL Super League, whose season ends in June.

Figuring out how all of these pieces fit together should not be too difficult to figure out, especially as they have space for all of them on the roster. But the club will want some level of roster flexibility in order to address areas of weakness, which most likely means some of these players may not start the season on the active roster in the case of the injured players, or even be on the roster at all in 2026.

Gotham FC must build up some depth

The biggest bullet the club dodged this season was their lack of depth. Throughout the 2025 season, players like Davidson, Torres, Stevens, and Rose Lavelle all missed significant time with injury, and yet it did not seem to hurt them as much as it would in other years or for other teams. Likely that will not be the case next year. The NJ/NJ team will need some added depth, especially given the additional workload, which could see the club play as many as 42 games in 2026, seven more than in 2025.

So, what areas need to be addressed? Getting strong backups for González and Howell are probably the first areas of need. While they do have Harper, who did show flashes last season and is expected to take a jump come next season, having an established scorer behind González will really be beneficial, given this team's issues when it comes to scoring. And after trading Nealy Martin, the club did not have a true backup defensive midfielder for Howell, who herself has had injury issues in the past.

After that, depth across the backline will be needed. While Davidson is expected to be back relatively early on in the season, it would be beneficial to her and the team as a whole if they add a player or two to reduce her workload and to ease her back into playing consistent minutes.

On the whole, the club does have young players who could step into bigger roles in 2026. In addition to Harper, players like Schupansky, Sofia Cook, Josefine Hasbo, and even 15-year-old Mak Whitham could see greater responsibility come next season, which could be vital for Gotham FC to maintain the championship-winning level.