2006–2008: Establishment Following the growth of
women's soccer in the United States in the 1990s, the first attempt at a fully professional women's league, the
Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), was founded in 2000. However, after playing just three seasons the WUSA folded in 2003. Originally planned to begin play in 2008, the launch of this new league, dubbed
Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), was subsequently pushed back to 2009. Boston and the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area were also selected to host clubs to participate in the inaugural WPS season. a
semi-professional league that served as part of the
second division of women's soccer in the United States. Future
governor of New Jersey Phil Murphy and his wife
Tammy Murphy were co-founders of the team, alongside businessman
Steven H. Temares, Francesco Prandoni and Thomas Hofstetter. The Murphys would later claim that their motivation in founding the club was as an example to their daughter, in order to prove that there was a viable pathway for women in the United States to play professional soccer. By September 2007, the club had been selected to fulfill the New York/New Jersey slot in Women's Professional Soccer and rebranded as Sky Blue FC. Sky Blue FC named
Ian Sawyers as its first head coach and general manager on March 5, 2008. However, it was not until September 9, 2008, that the New York/New Jersey outfit was officially unveiled under the name Sky Blue FC. One week later, the
U.S. women's national team allocation took place with
Heather O'Reilly,
Natasha Kai, and
Christie Pearce allocated to Sky Blue FC. On September 24, the
2008 WPS International Draft was held. Sky Blue FC drafted
Australia national team forward
Sarah Walsh in the first round,
Brazil national team members
Rosana and
Ester in the second and third rounds respectively, finished with
Canada national team midfielder
Kelly Parker in the fourth round. In addition to these picks, Sky Blue FC also named Australia national team midfielder
Collette McCallum and
England national team defender
Anita Asante as post-draft discovery players on September 26, 2008, and October 2, 2008, respectively, and were awarded their WPS playing rights. To further assign player rights, on October 6 the
2008 WPS General Draft took place. Sky Blue FC drafted
Cori Alexander,
Keeley Dowling,
Kacey White, and Jenny Hammond. Ian Sawyers closed out 2008 by choosing
Kelly Lindsey to be his assistant coach on December 3. The new year brought new players. On January 16, the
2009 WPS Draft was held. Sky Blue FC drafted
Yael Averbuch,
Meghan Schnur,
Karen Bardsley,
Christie Shaner,
Julianne Sitch,
Jen Buczkowski,
Zhang Ouying,
Mary Therese McDonnell,
Mele French, and Fanta Cooper.
2008–2020: Sky Blue FC 2009–2011: Women's Professional Soccer Unlikely champions, 2009 Sky Blue FC kicked off its inaugural season on April 5, 2009, dropping a 2–0 decision to
Los Angeles Sol at
TD Bank Ballpark in
Bridgewater Township,
New Jersey. It played its next game at the venue before moving permanently to
Yurcak Field on the campus of
Rutgers University. The team stuttered to one win and two draws in their first six games, scoring only 3 goals in the process, before head coach and general manager
Ian Sawyers was suspended indefinitely by the team for disagreements on May 23, 2009. He was eventually relieved of his duties as head coach and general manager on May 28, 2009. In his absence,
Kelly Lindsey stepped in as the
interim and slowly started to turn around Sky Blue FC's on-field fortunes. She was eventually permanently installed as head coach on June 19, 2009, by then General Manager Gerry Marrone. Lindsey's time at the helm was short-lived as she abruptly resigned from her position on July 30, 2009. She had won five games and drawn three others in her twelve total matches before
Christie Rampone was named the second
interim of the year and third head coach overall by Marrone. Her position also included playing on the field and she was the first player/manager in WPS history. Rampone led Sky Blue FC into 4th position and secured the final playoff spot for the
2009 playoffs. Sky Blue FC upended both
Washington Freedom and
Saint Louis Athletica to make the championship game against Los Angeles Sol. A 16th minute
Heather O'Reilly strike earned Sky Blue FC the championship on August 22, 2009, beating the Sol on their own home field of
The Home Depot Center in
Carson,
California. Sky Blue's victory was seen as an upset, and later described as "an all-time underdog story." Sky Blue were later invited to the
White House, where President
Barack Obama hailed their success in the inaugural WPS season.
Down to Earth, 2010–2011 With two additional teams,
Atlanta Beat and
Philadelphia Independence, joining the league for 2010, Sky Blue FC were destined to lose players from their championship-winning side. On September 15, the
2009 WPS Expansion Draft was held with
Jen Buczkowski moving to Philadelphia and
Noelle Keselica headed to Atlanta. Sky Blue FC announced on September 29, 2009, that former
Finnish National Team player
Pauliina Miettinen would be head coach of the team for the 2010 season after completing her coaching duties with
PK-35 Vantaa. Sky Blue FC started its title defense on April 11, 2010, when it hosted the Chicago Red Stars at Yurcak Field. The team wasted little time in gaining its first goal on the young season, with forward Tasha Kai scoring on a fourth-minute strike to lead her team to an eventual 1–0 victory. Sky Blue FC found itself having some trouble tallying goals as the season progressed and held a 5–6–3 record when head coach Pauliina Miettinen was relieved of her duties. Immediately replacing her was assistant coach Rick Stainton, who led the team to a 2–4–4 record the rest of the way. After settling for three draws to conclude its sophomore campaign, Sky Blue FC finished the year in fifth place in the regular season standings and just missed the postseason. The 2011 season marked the first at the helm by decorated women's soccer coach Jim Gabarra, who had spent the past decade with the Washington Freedom. Prior to the start of the regular season, Sky Blue FC headed to Turkey for the preseason, playing to the finals of the Alanya International Women's Tournament of Champions, where it fell to team partner LdB FC Malmö, 1–0. Also participating in the tournament were Russian side FK Energiya and Danish club Fortuna Hjørring (who Sky Blue FC defeated in a penalty shootout in the semifinals). Sky Blue FC kicked off the WPS regular season on April 10, 2011, at Yurcak Field, playing the
Philadelphia Independence to a 2–2 draw. The team then hit the road for three games, suffering three consecutive defeats, before returning home for a pair of wins. After two more draws and another victory, Sky Blue FC found itself amid the longest unbeaten streak in franchise history (five matches). The team kicked off that streak on May 21, 2011, with a 3–0 win over the Atlanta Beat, its then-largest margin of victory. The club went 1–2 in its next three games before entering the final four matches of the regular season. After suffering defeats in each of those games, Sky Blue FC came up just short of the playoffs after finishing even with the Boston Breakers for the final postseason spot (Boston took the season tiebreaker). After the WPS announced the suspension of the 2012 season, Sky Blue FC announced a partnership with the
New Jersey Wildcats of the
W-League, which included sharing coaching staff.
2013–2020: National Women's Soccer League Jim Gabarra era, 2013–2015 In November 2012, it was announced that Sky Blue FC would be one of eight teams in a new women's professional soccer league sponsored by the
United States Soccer Federation, the
Canadian Soccer Association and the
Mexican Football Federation. The league, known as the
National Women's Soccer League, began play in spring 2013. during the
2013 season. For the 2013 season, Sky Blue were allocated seven players from North American federations, including
Kelley O'Hara,
Jillian Loyden,
Christie Rampone, and
Sophie Schmidt. On May 19, the club recorded their third consecutive victory and their fifth overall, marking the club's best-ever start to a season. On June 1, 2013, the team extended their run of consecutive victories to five with a 5–1 win over the
Boston Breakers at
Yurcak Field. In so doing, Sky Blue became the first team to score five goals in a single match in the nascent National Women's Soccer League. The team's form later slumped in the second half of the regular season, though Sky Blue ultimately finished in 4th place, earning a spot in the playoffs for the first time since 2009. Sky Blue were later eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, suffering a 2–0 defeat to the
Western New York Flash. The following season, Sky Blue failed to win any of their opening four matches. After defeating the Boston Breakers on May 3, Sky Blue again went on a winless streak until June 25, when they secured a 2–1 victory over the
Portland Thorns. The 2014 season ended with a five-game win streak, though this proved insufficient to overcome earlier poor form and Sky Blue finished the season in 6th place, failing to qualify for the playoffs. The 2015 season was similarly marred by poor form. After winning their opening match of the season, Sky Blue went on a winless streak until July 11. The game marked the debut for
Australian international
Sam Kerr, who scored the winning goal. Sky Blue ultimately finished the season in 8th place, having won only five games out of 20, and once more failing to qualify for the playoffs. Following the 2015 season, head coach Jim Gabarra reached an agreement with Sky Blue to be released from his contract, having agreed terms to join the
Washington Spirit. Gabarra's assistant,
Christy Holly, was later named his successor for the 2016 season.
Christy Holly era, 2016–2017 Sky Blue FC opened its 2016 season at Seattle Reign in thrilling fashion on Sunday, April 17, 2016, winning 2–1 and handing two-time defending
NWSL Shield winner its first-ever home loss at Memorial Stadium. The Reign were unbeaten at Memorial Stadium over the previous two seasons Sky Blue FC started six players who had never logged a single NWSL minute before that night. By the end of the season they had racked up with 26 points in 7th place. Playing twenty games this season, they ended up with seven wins, eight losses, and five draws. They scored 24 goals and had 30 against them. Sky Blue midfielder
Raquel Rodríguez was named
2016 NWSL Rookie of the Year. After beginning with a 1–1 draw against
Seattle Reign, the 2017 season got off to an uneven start. Sky Blue recorded alternating wins and losses in their next four games. Over the opening 18 matches of the season, Sky Blue recorded only two draws, compared to 7 wins and 9 defeats. Despite these results, Sky Blue were in 3rd place as late as July 15. Ultimately, in 2017, Sky Blue had its most successful season since 2014. They finished in sixth place, but were in playoff contention until mid September. Despite these successes, head coach
Christy Holly unexpectedly stepped down as coach on August 16, 2017.
Instability, scandals, and rebuilding, 2017–2019 Holly's departure was followed by veteran defender
Christie Pearce announcing she would miss the remainder of the season due to injury on August 18. Following Holly's abrupt departure, assistant manager Dave Hodgson was appointed
interim head coach. On August 19, 2017, Sky Blue overcame a 3–0 deficit, to defeat the
Seattle Reign 5–4. In that game
Sam Kerr became the first player in NWSL history to score 4 goals in one game. Kerr enjoyed a breakout season in 2017, she broke the single season goal scoring record by scoring 17 goals and won the golden boot. Kerr was also awarded the 2017 NWSL MVP award.
Denise Reddy was appointed as the new head coach on November 15, 2017. Sky Blue began the off-season by trading several of their key players. They dealt
Taylor Lytle and
USWNT defender
Kelley O'Hara to the
Utah Royals on December 29, 2017. Then at the
2018 NWSL College Draft they traded
Nikki Stanton and 2017 NWSL MVP
Sam Kerr to the
Chicago Red Stars. Sky Blue received forward
Katie Johnson and defender
Rebekah Stott from the
Seattle Reign in exchange for the rights to forward
Caitlin Foord. They also added two-time
FIFA Player of the year Carli Lloyd in the trade for
Sam Kerr. During this time, the club was plagued with reports of poor off-field conditions. The training facilities lacked running water, working toilets, and showers, leading players to take post-game ice baths in garbage cans. The team reneged on its promise to provide housing for some players, and those who were accommodated found the conditions unacceptable. Players had to cover broken windows with cardboard, and some were placed with host families who expected them to babysit. Players also accused the club of also trying to cut travel costs at their expense. Players were forced into early check-outs at hotels, sometimes hours before they had to leave for a game. Between the poor training conditions and ownership they saw as distant, players started referring to Sky Blue as "a semi-pro team". The 2018 season did include promising rookie seasons from
Imani Dorsey and
Savannah McCaskill. Dorsey scored 4 goals in 13 games and McCaskill had 3 goals and 3 assists. Both players were voted as finalists for the
2018 NWSL Rookie of the year. Dorsey won the award, becoming the second Sky Blue player to win the award after
Raquel Rodríguez won it in 2016. Following the disappointments of the preceding two seasons, the 2019 season got off to a poor start. Before the season even began,
Hailie Mace and
Julia Ashley declined to sign for the club despite being drafted, citing the team's mismanagement. Sky Blue then failed to win any of their opening nine matches, drawing two and losing seven. Head coach Denise Reddy was subsequently relieved of her duties. At the time of her dismissal, Reddy had won only one of thirty-three matches in charge of the club. Goalkeeping coach Hugo Macedo was named
interim head coach following Reddy's dismissal. In his first game in charge, Macedo guided Sky Blue to a 2–1 win over the
Chicago Red Stars, their first victory in an
away game since September 2017. Under Macedo, Sky Blue amassed a 4–2–4 record. However, on September 4, Macedo returned to his previous role of goalkeeping coach and was replaced as interim head coach by
Freya Coombe. Under Coombe, Sky Blue went on to win only one of their final five games of the season. Having had three head coaches in a single season for the second time, Sky Blue finished the 2019 season with a record of 5 wins, 5 draws, and 14 defeats. This saw them finish 8th in the table, ahead of only the
Orlando Pride, and failing to qualify for the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. Off the field, in February co-owner and
First Lady of
New Jersey Tammy Murphy announced she would be taking an "active role" in the club. In the same statement, Murphy announced that the club had taken steps to improve player housing, as well as relocating its administrative offices, and expanding the size of the club's staff. Alyse LaHue, formerly General Manager of the Chicago Red Stars, was named interim GM following Novo's resignation. LaHue was later made permanent General Manager on September 3. In November 2019, Sky Blue announced that they had reached an agreement with
Major League Soccer club the
New York Red Bulls to play their home matches for the following season at
Red Bull Arena. In December, Freya Coombe's appointment as head coach was made permanent.
A fresh start, 2020 Following their previous announcement of a
groundshare arrangement, in February 2020 Sky Blue announced that they had agreed a deal to share training facilities with the New York Red Bulls. That same month, Ed Nalbandian joined the club as minority owner and was appointed Vice Chair. Heading into the 2020 season, Sky Blue's off field developments over the preceding year were perceived as having turned around the club's culture. such as
Mallory Pugh,
McCall Zerboni, and
Margaret Purce, for what was described as a "new-look Sky Blue." These changes led to a belief that the club "was set to make leaps and bounds" and would "compete for playoff spots in due time." The outbreak of the
COVID-19 pandemic halted the new season's momentum before it could even begin, however. On March 12, the team's originally scheduled preseason was cancelled. The start date of the 2020 NWSL season was also pushed back before being cancelled altogether and replaced by the
2020 NWSL Challenge Cup. Veteran defender
Caprice Dydasco, new arrival Pugh, and star midfielder
Carli Lloyd were ruled out of the Challenge Cup through injury. Midfielder
Madison Tiernan also picked up an injury shortly before the start of the tournament. These absences, coupled with the extensive changes that had been made to the club in a short space of time, led to Sky Blue entering the Challenge Cup as "the true underdog". The truncated season was seen as pushing back the club's growth, A subsequent 2–0 defeat to the
North Carolina Courage saw them slump to 7th, and Sky Blue were pitted against 2nd place
Washington Spirit in the quarter-final. The Spirit were perceived as the favorite for the match, though Sky Blue ultimately advanced after winning 4–3 on penalties. In the semi-final, Sky Blue were pitted against the Chicago Red Stars, who had finished as runners-up in the 2019 NWSL Championship. After conceding three goals in the opening 60 minutes, Sky Blue rallied courtesy of a late goal from
Evelyne Viens and an effort by Purce which forced an own goal by
Julie Ertz. However, Sky Blue were unable to overcome the deficit and the club were eliminated in a 3–2 defeat. Despite these results, goalkeeper
Kailen Sheridan was named the best goalkeeper of the tournament by the media, being awarded the Golden Glove.
The Philadelphia Inquirer also wrote that Sky Blue's performance in the tournament "shows big potential for the future," and that "if general manager Alyse LaHue can keep her team's spine together, Sky Blue will enter 2021 with real potential to end its playoff drought." Following the conclusion of the Challenge Cup, the NWSL announced the continuation of the season with the
NWSL Fall Series. Per the rules of the series, Sky Blue were drawn into a three-team regional pod with the Washington Spirit and Chicago Red Stars. Sky Blue opened the Fall Series with a 2–1 victory over the Washington Spirit at
Segra Field on September 5, though this was followed by a heavy 4–1 defeat to the Chicago Red Stars. Sky Blue then suffered a 1–0 defeat to the Washington Spirit in their first
home game of the season, before closing out the Fall Series with a 3–1 victory at home over Chicago. These results ultimately saw Sky Blue finish the Fall Series in fourth place, just one point behind the third-placed Washington Spirit.
2021–present: NJ/NY Gotham FC and NWSL champions In April 2021, Sky Blue officially changed its name to Gotham FC, "Gotham" being a
nickname for New York City. Carli Lloyd announced her retirement from professional soccer on August 16, 2021, indicating the current NJ/NY Gotham season would be her last season. In September 2021, former Sky Blue player
Nadia Nadim accused management of forging her signature on a contract extension so they could trade her to the
Portland Thorns in early 2016. Lloyd joined the ownership group on April 27, 2022. On May 4, 2022,
NBA player
Kevin Durant and investor
Rich Kleiman announced their minority investment into Gotham FC via their investment company Thirty Five Ventures. On July 29, 2022,
WNBA player
Sue Bird joined Gotham FC's ownership group as a minority owner, consultant, and advisor. On August 10, 2022, Gotham FC announced the addition of former
New York Giants quarterback
Eli Manning and Giants chief commercial officer
Pete Guelli to its ownership group as minority owners. The investments raised the club's valuation to an estimated $40 million. On August 11, 2022, Gotham FC fired head coach
Scott Parkinson following a start to the 2022 season and announced an immediate search for a new coach to be hired for the 2023 season. After finishing the 2022 season in last place, Gotham FC appointed
Juan Carlos Amóros as the new head coach. In the NWSL Draft, Gotham FC made several trades to acquire
Lynn Williams from
Kansas City Current in exchange for the 2nd pick and send
Paige Monaghan to
Racing Louisville in exchange for the 4th pick, which they used to draft 2023
Rookie of the Year winner
Jenna Nighswonger. Prior to the start of the season, veteran defender
Ali Krieger announced that she would be retiring at the end of the 2023 NWSL season. Gotham FC finished the regular season in 6th place, securing the final playoff spot on the last day of the season. In the playoffs, Gotham FC defeated
North Carolina Courage 0-3 and
Portland Thorns FC 0–1 to advance to their first ever NWSL Championship Game. On November 11, 2023, Gotham FC won their first NWSL Championship, the team's first title since the 2009 WPS Championship, by a score of 1–2 over
OL Reign with first half goals by
Lynn Williams and
Esther Gonzalez. In the 2024 season, Gotham finished third in the league, defeating
Portland Thorns FC in the quarterfinals 2–1. In the semifinals, Gotham faced the
Washington Spirit, in this match goals from
Esther González and
Hal Hershfelt sent the match to penalties, where Gotham lost 3–0. On May 24, 2025, Gotham won the
inaugural edition of the
CONCACAF W Champions Cup, defeating
Tigres UANL 1–0 in the
final. On November 22, 2025, Gotham won the
2025 NWSL Championship, defeating the Washington Spirit 1–0 at
PayPal Park in
San Jose, California. Midfielder
Rose Lavelle scored the winning goal and was declared the game's MVP. ==Colors and crest==