Angel City FC 2025 Season Review

Free agency is in full swing, future NWSL clubs are busy making signings, and the 2025 NWSL champions have been crowned. Unfortunately, those crowns wont rest on the heads of Angel City FC, as the club go into the offseason having to once again deal with the bitter taste of missing the playoffs. Before we look ahead to what the team needs to do to ensure this isn’t a feeling being felt yet again next season, let’s take one last look at the 2025 season that was. A year that started without a head coach, without an identity, and featured more than a few difficulties to overcome.

Sending all our gratitude to the ACFC fam today. 🖤 pic.twitter.com/yQO9pzx7Vd

— Angel City FC (@weareangelcity) November 27, 2025

When we talked about what the 2025 season could look like in our season preview, one thing we talked about was making sure the first half of the season went well enough to keep the team within striking distance of a playoff spot. We knew coming in that the team wasn’t going to have their new permanent manager until June, so the goal for the team was just keep it close and hopefully the new manager would come in and be able to do just enough to get the team into the postseason. Things looked to be going to plan early on under Interim Head Coach Sam Laity. The team went 4-2-2 (W-D-L) in their first eight matches, they had scored 15 goals while conceding 14, though to be fair 7 of those goals conceded came in their two losses. The team wasn’t dominant, but they looked good with a rookie in Riley Tiernan that seemed to be scoring at will, a defense that was starting to find its chemistry with newly added Savy King partnering with Sarah Gorden, and they were keeping pace with the top half of the table, then disaster struck.

Always behind you, Savy King 🖤 #AngelCityFC | @wearebayfc pic.twitter.com/4wokmlXnca

— Angel City FC (@weareangelcity) May 18, 2025

During a 2-0 win at home, defender Savy King went down with a medical emergency that saw her literally fighting for her life as she was immediately attended to, and rushed to the hospital. It was a moment that shook the entirety of the league, leaving fans and players all shaken up, and it was something that, understandably, wasn’t easy for her Angel City teammates to get through. The team went on an eight match winless run after that incident that saw them lose five of those eight, with just three draws. As far as on the pitch, the team had lost a very valuable player in defense. A young rising star that had settled in well, and was slowly forming one of, if not the best partnership in the NWSL alongside Gorden. The human aspect, which is far more important, it was a moment that left the team shook. Players watched their 20-year-old teammate go through the scariest thing you can go through as an athlete, being rushed to the hospital and fighting to see another day. It’s completely understandable that the moment affected the team in a way very few of us will truly comprehend. It was something you never truly ‘get over’ and having to play games while having that weigh on your mind, only shows just how strong this team had to be. Thankfully, we now know King has made a full recovery, and is beginning the return to action that should see her take the pitch in 2026 to what will undoubtedly be the loudest ovation any player receives on opening day.

As for the season, in the midst of the winless run the team named their new Head Coach in former FC Bayern Women’s team manager, Alex Straus. Life in the NWSL was a bit of a shock for the new head coach, as it took him a while before the team was able to find their feet, and get their first win under him, but he had made it clear from the start his goal coming in halfway through the season wasn’t so much do any and everything to get into the playoffs, but rather doing what needed to be done to build a solid foundation that can support longterm success for years to come. “Most importantly for me from the start, and going forward  into the second part of the season, to the end of the season, into the start of preseason for next year is I need to know where we are at for myself, in comparison to the others [teams in the NWSL] for how we can make this team a championship winning team” said Straus when we spoke to him shortly after his arrival. “The reference points aren’t so much 10th, 11th, 12th, 9th or whatever, it’s about reference points being the benchmark on what kind of habits makes a championship winning team.” It took a bit but after their first win under Straus in late August, the team followed with another win, and more than the results, were looking really good. The identity under Straus was taking shape and players seemed to be getting more familiar with what was wanted, and as for standings at that point the team sat just one point off the last playoff spot. They then faced another big obstacle in the form of watching their young, rising superstar, shipped off to Europe.

Always part of the ACFC family 🖤

Angel City FC has completed a transfer of forward Alyssa Thompson to Chelsea FC Women in one of the highest transactions in global women’s soccer.

Full details and ACFC statement: https://t.co/HXDefKg9q6 pic.twitter.com/fwstuBQdZ6

— Angel City FC (@weareangelcity) September 5, 2025

It’s not so much that the team transferred a player many, including Alex Straus, felt like could be the key piece to building the future around, it was them selling her at a point many felt postseason was still very much possible for the team. Sure, these type of moves come few and far between, but many felt perhaps waiting until the January window, when the NWSL season was over, would be best for Angel City, but it was not to be, and we unfortunately saw the consequences of that decision. With just eight matches left at that point, the team went on to lose six of those matches, with one draw and just one win. It was clear immediately the offense was not only completely different without a player the team had started to build around, but the emotional toll was clear as well. It very much felt like a team that just wanted the season to end, wanted to reset, refresh, restart from all they had been through. Despite the losing and poor results in the scoreline, the one silver lining was seeing the identity for what Straus wanted to build, solidify. He talked about wanting a team that was aggressive, that went for wins, that wasn’t afraid to push in attack and unafraid to play really beautiful football and for the most part, that is what we saw. The real issue was finding that final piece in the final third of the pitch, to be a bit more clinical in front of goal to find the scores needed to get the wins. In the end, the team saw their chances at a playoff slip away, ending the season 11th in the standings.

💬 Nealy Martin: “I think it’s really exciting to see what Alex is building here.”

Quote of the Match | @CarMax pic.twitter.com/qHcAB3mDn5

— Angel City FC (@weareangelcity) November 3, 2025

These type of seasons happen, but the issue specifically for Angel City is that these seem to happen a little too much for club barely five years old. Outside of one magical run that saw them sneak into the playoffs in 2023, just to be eliminated in round one, this has been a club that hasn’t seen postseason soccer despite a roster that, on paper, should be far more competitive. However, things feel different now. While it took them half the season, they now have a head coach in Alex Straus that understands this will be a project, that has experience taking a project and building a championship level side. The rotating door at head coach seems to have finally stopped and now the real work begins. This will be, without a doubt, the most crucial offseason Angel City has faced as a club. Players like Christen Press and Ali Riley have retired, Alyssa Thompson and MA Vignola have been transferred out, and as it stands today several players have left in free agency. The rebuild is officially on for ACFC, it’s time to build the vision Straus has, and more importantly, it’s time to make sure this feeling of disappointment going into an offseason, doesn’t happen again.

Thoughts on the 2025 season for Angel City FC? Drop us a comment below!