Gotham FC placed defender Kelley O’Hara on the season-ending injury list due to chronic knee degeneration, the team announced Saturday, precipitating the end of her final season. She will “continue to be in the environment for the remainder of the season in a leadership role,” the team said.
O’Hara, an Olympic gold medalist with the U.S. women’s national team, announced her plans in May to retire from soccer at the end of the 2024 NWSL season after struggling with ankle and knee injuries.
“To get injured and come back, and get injured and come back, and just keep doing it, it really takes a toll on you,” O’Hara told Just Women’s Sports in May.
O’Hara, a linchpin for the USWNT for more than a decade, played in four World Cups, winning two in 2015 and 2019. She is also a WPS champion and two-time NWSL champion, winning titles with the Washington Spirit in 2021 and Gotham in 2023.
O’Hara has been with the NWSL since the start, beginning her career in the league with Sky Blue FC, before a stint with the first version of Utah Royals FC and then heading to the Spirit. She signed with Gotham in January 2023.
Gotham said it will celebrate O’Hara’s career on Oct. 20, when the team hosts the Orlando Pride at Red Bull Arena in its final regular-season home match.
U.S. Soccer will honor O’Hara in a retirement ceremony at halftime of the USWNT’s match against Iceland on Oct. 27 in Nashville, Tenn., the federation announced Wednesday. The federation also said plans are underway to honor the career of soccer icon Alex Morgan, who retired this month, at a USWNT match in early 2025.
What could be next for O’Hara in retirement?
The close to O’Hara’s career has been in slow motion since the 2023 World Cup. When she made the roster, her emotions over the decision following the injury battles with her knee were clear, but it’s been a struggle for her to play any sort of consistent minutes for Gotham FC over the past two seasons.
Ultimately, while O’Hara’s placement on the SEI means she’s already had her final moments on the field in a Gotham kit and not realized it, her long-term health is far more important. She’s talked openly about how this injury has impacted not just her playing career, but her everyday life.
“I’m trying to stay hopeful for the quality of life I want,” O’Hara said in an interview earlier this year with Sam Mewis of “The Women’s Game” podcast. “I want to be able to walk to the grocery store and not be in excruciating pain.”
O’Hara has been working in the media space for a while already, appearing behind the desk for analysis with CBS, including during the USWNT’s Gold Cup run earlier this year. She’s also been podcasting and producing other content with Just Women’s Sports for years, with the new show “Fast Friends” co-hosted by Lisa Leslie having just debuted this past week. — Meg Linehan, women’s soccer senior writer
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(Photo: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images)
