BOSTON — Boston Legacy Football Club plays its first match in franchise history on Saturday, one of two expansion teams kicking off in 2026.
The occasion marks a return for the NWSL to New England. The Boston Breakers were one of the league’s eight founding clubs in 2013, and existed in various forms and leagues dating back to 2000. The team folded in 2018 amid financial strain.
The Legacy, first awarded in 2023 with an expansion fee of $53 million, faced more hurdles than most clubs on the way to opening day.
In October 2024, the team originally launched as Bos Nation FC, an anagram of the word “Bostonian.” The brand rollout featured a “No More Balls” campaign that tried to build on the region’s successes in men’s sports, but outraged many fans. The team quickly apologized for the marketing flop and announced the new name and branding, Boston Legacy, in March 2025.
League COO Sarah Jones Simmer told Front Office Sports earlier this week that she “appreciated the humility” shown in navigating the naming saga by Boston’s ownership group: Jennifer Epstein, Stephanie Connaughton, Ami Kuan Danoff, and Anna Palmer.
“They paused, they listened to fans, they took the time to look deeply at the community and get input from the community,” Jones Simmer said. “I think we really respect the way they handled that as owners.”
The franchise has also been met with resistance over its stadium. The team is currently renovating Boston’s White Stadium as a public-private venture to open next year to be shared between the city and the team. Local residents filed a lawsuit against the plan, and the stadium became a point of debate in last year’s mayoral election. The team and city beat the community group in court last year, though after an appeal, the case is now heading before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, with a hearing scheduled for April 8.
Despite the turmoil, the Legacy has chugged along. The team added investors like Indiana Fever player Aliyah Boston and Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. Portuguese manager Filipa Patão, a 2024 nominee for the Ballon d’Or for Women’s Coach of the Year, is the team’s first head coach after leading Benfica to five straight league titles in her home country.
The team will pack 25,000 people into Gillette Stadium on Saturday, more than double the league average from last season. To mark the occasion, Massachusetts natives New Kids on the Block will perform at halftime.
The Legacy’s first game in franchise history is against reigning champion Gotham FC, something commissioner Jessica Berman told reporters she’s “very excited” about on Wednesday. “We hope and expect that the cities that have had historical rivalries through other sports will continue to exist through the NWSL,” Berman said.
The Legacy won’t play all home matches in Foxborough, Mass., this season, instead moving about half of them to Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket, R.I. That’s because, over the course of the NWSL season, the Legacy will share Gillette Stadium with the New England Revolution, Patriots, and the World Cup. Now that Robert Kraft stepped up to cover Foxborough’s controversial security bill upfront, Gillette Stadium is set to host seven matches during the FIFA tournament. While forcing the Legacy to split games between venues, the World Cup also means the team gets to play on grass rather than the venue’s usual turf.
From the Breakers’ collapse to a naming saga and logistical challenges, it’s been a long road for professional women’s soccer to return to New England. Now that the day has finally arrived, all the Legacy has to do is take it “Step by Step.”
