Racing Louisville makes NWSL regular-season debut on Saturday

The stadium is ready, the tickets are sold, the preseason matches are out of the way and the pandemic is on its heels. After years of planning and preparation, Racing Louisville, the city’s expansion team in the National Women’s Soccer League, is set to play its first regular-season game.

Racing Louisville kicks off the 2021 season Saturday at 5 p.m. at Lynn Family Stadium against Kansas City.

“Louisville is a city that people have overlooked,” Racing Louisville Coach Christy Holly said when the team announced its schedule earlier this month. “The energy, enthusiasm and passion that our fans have brought is something that our players live off, and I think the opposition team will get a good appreciation of what we are trying to do.”

Fans caught their first look at Louisville’s new team during the NWSL’s preseason Challenge Cup. Racing Louisville finished the event with no wins, two losses and two draws but every match went down to the wire.

Kansas City, the former Utah Royals franchise relocated going into 2021, finished the Challenge Cup 0-3-1.

“We got to learn a lot about ourselves during the Challenge Cup, and we will get to learn even more as the season evolves,” Holly said. “The results didn’t go our way, but in a sense I did not want us to be misguided by sneaking a win when we are underperforming. I think it keeps our feet on the ground. It makes it very realistic about where we are as a club. We are in the embryonic stages of our growth in the NWSL.”

Racing Louisville’s league schedule runs through Oct. 31 and features 12 home and 12 road matches. The team will also take part in an in-season international tournament in August.

Racing Louisville added some international flair of its own this week when a a high-scoring forward from England joined the roster. Ebony Salmon, who recently received her first call-up to her country’s national team, signed a two-year contract and will begin play as soon as she receives her visa.

The 20-year-old scored 18 goals in two seasons playing for Bristol City in the Football Association Women’s Super League.

“Our team worked very hard to secure her signing, as we know she is one of the best young talents in the world and was so well developed by the coaches at Bristol,” Holly said. “Even at such a young age, Ebony has already proven to be a dangerous player and one that can have a very big impact upon our team.”

Lynn Family Stadium will continue to be limited to 50% of its 15,304 capacity under Kentucky’s latest guidelines for outdoor events numbering more than 1,000 people.

Saturday

Kansas City at Racing Louisville

What: NWSL regular-season opener

When: 5 p.m.

Where: Lynn Family Stadium

TV: CBS Sports Network