Sinead Louise Farrelly (born November 16, 1989) is an American former

soccer player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. She previously played for

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defunct Women's ...

of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

. In 2011, she played for the

Philadelphia Independence The Philadelphia Independence was an American professional soccer club that was based in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester, Pennsylvania. The team joined Women's Professional Soccer as an expansion team in 2010 and played its home games at West ...

of the WPS and was a member of the

United States U-23 women's national soccer team The United States U-23 women's national soccer team is a youth soccer team operated under the auspices of U.S. Soccer. Its primary role is the development of players in preparation for the full Women's National Team. The team competes in a va ...

. She was selected by the Philadelphia Independence as the No. 2 overall pick in the

2011 WPS Draft The 2011 WPS College Draft took place on January 14, 2011. It was the third college draft held by Women's Professional Soccer to assign the WPS rights of college players to the American-based teams. Format University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

. She was a Hermann Trophy semifinalist in 2009 And 2010.

Early life

Born and raised in

Havertown, Pennsylvania Havertown is a residential suburban unincorporated community in Haverford Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It is located approximately 9 miles west of the center of Philadelphia. Havertown's ZIP Code is 19083 and "Havertown" is a posta ...

, Farrelly began playing soccer at the age of five. She attended

Haverford High School Haverford Senior High School is the public high school of Haverford Township, Pennsylvania, United States, operated by the School District of Haverford Township. It is at 200 Mill Road in Havertown. The school serves the entirety of Haverford To ...

where she was a four-time team MVP and earned First Team All All-Southeastern PA honors. She was named a 2006 NSCAA Youth All-American and ranked seventh as the nation's top recruit by SoccerBuzz. Farrelly was a member of the Spirit United Gaels club that was the 2006 National Runner-Up and was played for the Region I Olympic Development Program (ODP) team. During her time with the Spirit United Gaels, the team was a US Youth Soccer National Finalist (2006), a USYS Regional Champions (2006), and a Two-Time State Champions (2005 & 2006. Her team's incredible run in 2006, although cut short by a loss to FC Wisconsin Eclipse in the National Championship in Des Moines, Iowa, won their head coach, Sean McCafferty, the 2006 EPYSA Girls' Coach of the Year Award and 2006 NSCAA Regional Youth Girls' Coach of the Year Award. The Gaels made it through to Regionals the next year on a wildcard after a tough loss to the FC Pennsylvania Strikers in the State Cup Final. Their Regionals drive did not finish as they would have aspired to, as they did not even make the final this year.

University of Virginia

Farrelly attended the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

and played for the

Cavaliers The term Cavalier () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of King Charles I and his son Charles II of England during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration (1642 – ). It ...

in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC). As a freshman in 2007, she started all 23 games and ranked third on the team with five goals (including three game-winners) and four assists. She was named First Team All-ACC, Second Team NSCAA All-Mid-Atlantic, and Top Drawer Soccer Co-National Rookie of the Year. During her sophomore season, she started all 23 games and ranked third on the team in scoring with five goals and three assists. She was named to the ACC All-Tournament Team, First Team All-ACC, and NSCAA and Soccer Buzz All Mid-Atlantic Region. As a junior, she started all 22 games and led the

in scoring with eight goals and eight assists for a total of 24 points. She was named Second Team NSCAA All-America selection and was a MAC

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the ...

semifinalist. During her senior year, Farrelly was honored as the University of Virginia's top female athlete of 2010–11 after starting all 22 games and leading the Cavaliers with 12 goals and seven assists (for a total of 31 points). She was named ACC Offensive Player of the Year and was a NSCAA First Team All-American. She earned her fourth straight All-ACC selection and was a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist for the second time. Farrelly's 90 games started ranks her second to future

FC Kansas City FC Kansas City was an American professional women's soccer club based in Kansas City, Missouri. The team was one of the eight founding clubs of the National Women's Soccer League in 2012, and began play in 2013. They were two-time NWSL champions ...

teammate,

Becky Sauerbrunn Rebecca Elizabeth Sauerbrunn (born June 6, 1985) is an American professional soccer player for Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the highest division of women's professional soccer in the United States. Since 2021 ...

in the school's history. She ranked eighth in school history with 84 points scored in her career and eighth for most in a season with 31.

Playing career

Club

Philadelphia Independence, 2011

Farrelly was the number two pick in the

2011 WPS Draft The 2011 WPS College Draft took place on January 14, 2011. It was the third college draft held by Women's Professional Soccer to assign the WPS rights of college players to the American-based teams. Format Philadelphia Independence The Philadelphia Independence was an American professional soccer club that was based in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester, Pennsylvania. The team joined Women's Professional Soccer as an expansion team in 2010 and played its home games at West ...

. She tallied one goal and two assists for the Independence while starting in 13 of 14 games played (1101 minutes). Her first WPS career goal occurred during a match against

Western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY in ...

, which ended up being the game-winning goal and solidified a first place standing for the Independence in mid-July. The Independence would later come in second at the WPS Championship.

New York Fury, 2012

After the WPS suspended operations in early 2012, Farrelly signed with the

New York Fury New York Fury was a semi-professional American women’s soccer club playing in the Women's Premier Soccer League Elite, the top tier of women’s soccer in the United States in 2012. It was part of the Fury Soccer Organization which also supports ...

in the

WPSL Elite The Women's Premier Soccer League Elite (WPSL Elite) was a women's semi-professional soccer league created by the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) to support the sport in the United States, both from continued interest by WPSL teams in profess ...

Apollon Limassol, 2012–2013

Farrelly played for

Apollon Limassol Apollon Limassol FC ( el, Απόλλων Λεμεσού, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Divisi ...

from 2012 to 2013 in the

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

. She made five starts in five games for the club and scored six goals. During this time. Farrelly broke her arm in their first leg of their first game of the Knockout Stage against ASD Torres CF.

FC Kansas City, 2013

In 2013, Farrelly signed with

for the inaugural season of the

. She scored her first goal for the club in a home match against

Seattle Reign FC OL Reign is an American professional women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, ...

, helping the Blues notch their first win for the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

=Apollon Limassol, 2013–2014

= At the end of the

2013 NWSL season The 2013 National Women's Soccer League season was the inaugural season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Socce ...

, Farrelly joined Cypriot team

for a second time, this time on loan from FC Kansas City. The loan spell will end on January 31, 2014.

=Portland Thorns FC 2014–2015

= On January 13, 2014,

Portland Thorns FC The Portland Thorns FC is an American professional women's soccer team based in Portland, Oregon. Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), which receives support from the Uni ...

announced that they had obtained Farrelly from

in exchange for a second-round draft pick (16th pick overall) in the 2014 NWSL College Draft.

=Boston Breakers 2016

= On October 26, 2015,

announced that they had obtained Farrelly from

in a package deal along with

McCall Zerboni McCall RaNae Zerboni (born December 13, 1986) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for and captains NJ/NY Gotham FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Early life Born in Camarillo, California, to parent ...

for first-round (No. 2 overall) and second-round (No. 20 overall) picks in the 2016 National Women's Soccer League College Draft. Farrelly sat the season out due to neck and back injuries sustained from a car crash.

=Seattle Reign 2016

= In October 2016,

selected Farrelly off the NWSL Re-Entry Wire. She announced her retirement on Facebook on December 2, 2016.

International

Farrelly has represented the United States at the U-15, U-16, U-17, U-20, and U-23 levels.

Personal life

During her career, Farrelly was closely connected to former women's soccer coach Paul Riley, playing for three of his teams in three different leagues. She publicly revealed accusations of sexual coercion against Riley for a 2021 story in ''

The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports website that provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories from top professional and college sports ...

''. Riley was fired from his position and both the NWSL and

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

commenced investigations in the coming days.

References

External links

Philadelphia Independence player profile

FC Kansas City player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrelly, Sinead 1989 births Living people Philadelphia Independence players American women's soccer players National Women's Soccer League players FC Kansas City players New York Fury players Virginia Cavaliers women's soccer players Soccer players from Pennsylvania People from Delaware County, Pennsylvania Apollon Ladies F.C. players Expatriate women's footballers in Cyprus American expatriates in Cyprus Women's association football midfielders Portland Thorns FC players Women's Professional Soccer players LGBT association football players