‘Vengeance’: Sam Kerr blasts new club to top of US standings
Sam Kerr fired Gotham FC to the top of the National Women’s Soccer League ladder with the equalising goal in a 2-2 away draw with the Portland Thorns on Saturday (AEST).
The Australian superstar’s celebrations were muted after she smashed the ball past her Matildas goalkeeper teammate Mackenzie Arnold in the 62nd minute.
Sam Kerr scores for Gotham FC. Stan
“No nonsense, laces through it, instinctual finish, and a striker’s goal,” Ricky Lopez-Espin said on Stan Sport’s coverage.
“She hit that one with some vengeance, wanting to make her presence known.”
It looked like Kerr would then lead her side to victory at Providence Park when she got Thorns centre back Jayden Perry sent off in the 73rd minute.
Referee Katja Koroleva had no hesitation issuing a straight red card after Perry dragged Kerr down to deny her a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Sam Kerr of Gotham FC is dragged down by Jayden Perry of Portland Thorns. Getty
Portland defended stoutly with 10 players, but the point was enough to lift Gotham above the Washington Spirit at the top of the standings.
It was Kerr’s first goal for Gotham in her third game for the club since signing from Chelsea in June.
Kerr is the leading goalscorer in NWSL history with 78 despite having not played in the league since 2019.
Speaking before the match, Kerr declared that the A-League Women’s competition needs greater investment to entice more Matildas to return home.
Kerr said that many of the country’s leading players would consider returning if the competition offered the right professional environment.
The 32-year-old said Australia’s top women’s league required further development despite the progress it had made in recent years.
Kerr said the competition had previously benefited from the presence of national team players and Australians returning from stints overseas.
“We need to find a way to get all the best players back,” Kerr told ABC Sport.
“If it paid enough, and it was a top league, a lot of us Matildas would go back, but to better ourselves for the national team, we have to go overseas.”
Player pay has been a key concern in the A-League Women, which offers lower salaries than Australia’s other major women’s domestic competitions and less than overseas soccer leagues.
A-League Women players earned minimum salaries of $26,500 last year, lower than their counterparts at the NWSL whose minimum earnings in 2025 were $69,500.
A new collective bargaining agreement bumped NWSL players’ annual earnings to $72,350 in 2026.
Trinity Rodman, the highest-paid player in NWSL history, earns more than $2.87 million a year.
“The A-League was thriving, or the W-League back then was thriving when the national team players and players from the NWSL, players from England were coming over,” Kerr said.
Several of Australia’s leading internationals, including Caitlin Foord, Steph Catley, Katrina Gorry, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Mary Fowler, now play in Europe.
Kerr said the A-League Women compared favourably with the NWSL in some respects, but still required greater backing to continue its growth.
“The A-League’s probably more similar to the NWSL. It’s more transitional, probably on the same level as the NWSL off the pitch with things like that,” she added.
“But I think the A-League probably needs a little bit more investment, a little bit more time.”
The A-League Women and the NWSL were once among the world’s premier women’s leagues, but most of Australia’s top players now play in Europe, with a few Matildas based in the United States.
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