How Gotham FC re-tooled for another NWSL title run – this time as favorites

After two titles won as the lowest seed in the playoffs, the New Jersey club sought consistency in 2026. It’s arrived, but what’s next? By the time Gotham FC had won their second NWSL Championship in three seasons, Yael Averbuch West had already determined what was going to change. Some of that is the nature of her job; The general manager of a perennial contender can’t rest on laurels. Before every postseason, Gotham finalize tough looming personnel decisions, assessing the roster and staff alike with clear eyes.

“I think psychologically, this is just really important,” Averbuch West told the Guardian. “Really, we knew what we needed to do. For us, it’s this continuous evolution of how we always look to improve. There’s nothing that’s ever safe from review.” For all of their recent postseason success, with championships won as the lowest seed in 2023 and 2025, Gotham had never finished higher than third in any of their 17 seasons in NWSL or WPS. That trend was finally bucked in