‘An incredible feeling’: Boston Legacy FC begins inaugural season in front of record-setting crowd

FOXBORO, Mass. — The new professional women’s soccer team in Massachusetts played its first-ever game at Gillette Stadium Saturday afternoon. The team says 30,207 fans were there to witness their historic first game. That number set a record for the most fans attending an inaugural game for any team in the National Women’s Soccer League’s history.

“We’ve heard a lot about the Boston culture around sports, and today we got to experience that for the first time,” Legacy Midfielder Annie Kircher said.

“It was so special. I think for me the walkout was surreal playing in that stadium with the fans that all showed up. It was an incredible feeling walking out on the field,” Legacy Forward Ella Stevens said.

Fans said they were pumped to have a women’s soccer team back in New England. Boston 25 News Reporter Michael Raimondi spoke to people from all over the region who wanted to be there for the first game.

“Boston is such a great sports town, so I’ve been hoping for years that any women’s sports team would finally be really able to take hold in the city,” Sarah, a fan from Maine said. Its great to see women’s sports doing so well in such a great sports town."

The Head Coach, Filipa Patao, was impressed with the energy the supporters brought.

“The atmosphere was so amazing. I tried to speak with the players, and it was hard, because the crowd was always screaming and trying to support the team,” Patao said.

Their first game was against the defending champions from New York, Gotham FC. It was a physical and tough game, with Gotham winning 1-0.

Patao says she has a young team that she expects will learn and grow throughout the season.

“We were a competitive team and I’m proud of everything what they did here today,” she said.

Fans are eager after women’s professional soccer left Massachusetts nine years ago. The Boston Breakers folded back in 2017. Since then, fans have hoped a new team would start back up.

NWSL Commissioner Jess Berman was in Foxborough for the game. She said it was hard to imagine having the league grow without a team in Boston.

“To imagine we’ve changed this city forever by bringing a women’s team back is incredibly exciting,” Berman said.

Raimondi also questioned the commissioner about what’s changed since 2017, and why she believes Legacy FC can work now and into the future.

“We have the best players in the world we have the best game we have the best opportunity for growth. What has changed is we now have a professional league with appropriate investment from our owners from brand partners, from media partners, and now we get to bring a team back with all that infrastructure in place,” Berman said. “We have no doubt the excitement was always there, and the product was always the best. With the professional infrastructure we put around it this is going to be incredibly successful in this community.”

The Legacy will play most of their home games this season at Gillette Stadium before moving to White Stadium in Boston.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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