Denver Summit’s Nick Cushing on building an NWSL club from scratch | OneFootball

More than 15,000 people have paid a deposit for a season ticket at Denver Summit FC despite the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) expansion club having only three players and yet to play a match. So the sense of responsibility that comes with the task of building a team the state of Colorado can be proud is one staff there are acutely aware of.

Principally, that mission has been assigned to Nick Cushing, the former Manchester City women’s and New York City men’s team head coach, who was hired as Denver’s first head coach in August, six months before they embark on their first NWSL campaign, when the division expands to 16 sides in February. It is not hard to see the logic behind the choice; the Englishman was in charge of City when they were new to an expanded Women’s Super League in 2014, with new signings such as Steph Houghton, Jill Scott and Toni Duggan. They went on to win a League Cup in their first top-flight season and the league title in 2016.

The difference this time is Denver have an entirely blank canvas for Cushing to work on and, with his new colleagues, he has been scouring the global market in search of players and staff. “It’s a bit like a jigsaw puzzle; you start by putting one piece in and then as you start to put more pieces in, the picture starts to become clearer,” the 40-year-old says. “Not having any players means you can shape the mentality, culture and ambition of the team.

“I know the types of people that I work best with and that get the best out of me; it’s about work ethic, having real hunger and ambition to want to win, and people who want to actually take responsibility for the culture and environment, not just come and live in it.”

Denver’s first three signings, forwards Ally Watt and Nahikari García, and midfielder Lourdes Bosch, are all on loan, at Orlando Pride, Nottingham Forest and Monterrey Femenil respectively, before training begins in mid-January. “[You want] players who have experienced NWSL, experiencing winning,” says Cushing. “[It’s] exactly the same with staff. We’re recruiting staff we feel are really good people but who also have knowledge of good and bad times within the league.

“I was clear with the owners; I won’t come with my own staff. I’m going to build a staff. I don’t need a staffing group to come and make me feel comfortable and confident. I want to build the best staff with the skills to help Denver become a winning team as quickly as possible.”

Denver’s owners includes some of the biggest names in American sport, including Mikaela Shiffrin, statistically the most successful alpine skier of all time, and the five-time NFL MVP, Peyton Manning, both of whom have strong links to the local area. The ownership group, led by the American businessman Rob Cohen, spent a league-record $110m to join the NWSL, and Cushing cannot help but feel excited about what lays ahead. “The first game, the first goal, the first win, these are going to be historical moments,” he says. “We had a fun event on Saturday and the energy was electric, with three and a half thousand fans turning up just to buy merchandise and sing songs. It is so unique.”

Despite his optimistic mood, Cushing is taking a calm approach in regards to expectations for Denver’s debut NWSL season. “We just want to be competitive,” he says. “When I reflect now on the pre-season before 2014’s season with Manchester City, I thought we were going to win the league, play great football and dominate everybody. Then our first game was just a haze and I remember getting on the bus thinking: ‘Thank God we only lost 1-0.’ I wasn’t prepared and did a lot of learning through that season as a 29-year-old coach. Whereas now I’ve been through the highs and lows at Manchester City, highs and lows in New York, so I’m definitely more prepared.”

As well as a WSL title secured in an unbeaten league campaign, Cushing’s first spell at City also included lifting two FA Cups, three League Cups and reaching back-to-back Champions League semi-finals, losing to the eventual winners Lyon both times, in 2017 and 2018. In his second spell at City, on an interim basis in the latter part of last season after the sacking of Gareth Taylor, Cushing oversaw four wins in 10 games which included a Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea. Reflecting on his short-term return, he adds: “I loved it, leading the team in front of our fans in Manchester was amazing.

“I really enjoyed it but was disappointed I couldn’t push the team on. One thing it did – and I’m not afraid to say this – is it gave me a real appetite for that Champions League again. I have full focus here on Denver and I definitely want to win the NWSL, but I still have a desire after being in two Champions League semi-finals in my first tenure, so it is definitely something I want to do in my future, take that Champions League on again.”

Right now Cushing is more than happy in Denver, a city where the peaks of the Rocky Mountains rise in the background and somewhere he hopes to take his children skiing. Professionally, he is also aiming for the summit.

Header image: [Photograph: Jamie Schwaberow/Clarkson Creative/Denver Summit FC]