Q&A: Ali Krieger on Retirement, Gotham FC’s Success and Pride Month

The veteran defender, who is retiring at the end of the season, talks about visibility in the LGBTQ community and what sports can do to better support it.

Ali Krieger’s career is one most soccer players dream of, with two World Cups to her name, among other impressive accolades. Now, after nearly 20 years of professional soccer, Krieger has decided this season with the NWSL’s NJ/NY Gotham FC will be her last, announcing her retirement from the sport.

As prolific as Krieger has been on the pitch, she is just as influential off it. Krieger and her wife, Ashlyn Harris (who serves as the global creative adviser for Gotham FC after retiring last season), first went public with their relationship in 2019, and have continued to share their personal lives, including the adoption of their two children, Sloane and Ocean, in the name of representation. The two have also used their platforms to speak out on a range of topics, including LGBTQ issues.

Krieger is finding success in her last NWSL campaign, with Gotham FC currently boasting a 5-3-3 record after finishing dead last in the league last year (the club even took over the top of the table for a stretch earlier this season).

The veteran defender shares her thoughts on her team’s impressive form, her decision to hang it up and the importance of pride month.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Jonathan Jones/USA TODAY Sports

Sports Illustrated: How does it feel to have success at the club level after announcing it’s your last year with Gotham FC?

Ali Krieger: It’s pretty amazing. This is a dream come true for anyone, I think, in their last season to really be at the top of the table for a couple weeks and be fighting for the top six the whole season. It’s obviously the same mentality, I am going to show up and do my job no matter what year it is and what position we’re in but it’s really, really helpful to be at the top for once. It’s been a while since I’ve been on a team that’s at the top in first place, so it’s really nice.

SI: What do you credit Gotham’s newfound success to?

AK: It’s leadership through and through. Leadership from our coaching staff, 100 percent. And then obviously, our leadership group within the team. I think that that has really set us up for success and I think that’s really important with any team because that matters, the type of mentality you bring every single day.

The atmosphere that they create has been phenomenal, in the way that we can all continue to get better every day. No matter how long we have playing this game—you know I’m 38 and I’ll be 39 in July—I still don’t know everything. So I still want to learn and I still want to get better and I think they provide that for everyone, and they make everyone feel like they matter and that they can get better. So I think with everyone on our roster having that mentality and knowing that they can make an impact and that they are important to the team, even from the coaching staff kind of instilling that in them every day, that has been the change. And we actually have principles and an identity and a plan, and it’s just all really, really enjoyable to work around. And then you have the best people that you can work with within a club, not only from the front office staff, but the players themselves. It feels like everyone bought in, and everyone knows what’s expected of them and what the ultimate goals are by the end of the year. So, we are just keeping this train rolling and staying positive and continuing to make each other better every day.

SI: You’re still in great form, so how do you make the decision that now is the time to hang up the boots?

AK: I don’t want to be chasing 20-year-olds around the rest of my career. All jokes aside, I love the game so much, I really wish I could play forever, but I want to do other things in my life. I want to accomplish other things, and not that this isn’t the best thing that has happened to me in my career and in my life to play at this level for so long, and just love what I do every day, I mean I am so grateful for that opportunity and all the hard work I’ve put in to earn that each year has been really fun. But it’s time. I do feel like I can play another year or two, but I just feel in my mind. It’s hard to explain unless you’re in a position that I am in where you have been at this game for 30-plus years and you’ve tried to perfect it for so long. You come to a point where you just know, and it’s just a feeling that I have.

I also want to spend more time with my kids; I am missing a lot out already, even though they’re just so young. You know 0 to 4 years is a really impactful age, and I want to be more present and you know the body; I am kinda keeping it afloat with all the recovery tools that you can imagine that I have at home, but it’s just time. I want to enjoy more time with my family while I am still a bit young. So I think it’s a really good time to end and now I can impact maybe more off the field in a way that’s not much different than on the field, but maybe more on the business side of things, on the club side of things. I can use my player experience to really help clubs be successful in keeping players happy and enjoy the player experience a little bit more. So that’s kind of the mentality that I have and the switch of what I am willing to do after I am done.

SI: Ashlyn ended her playing career last year, but then transitioned to a more business role, hers being on the creative side of things. Seeing the path that she forged, did that help you at all?

AK: She always supports me no matter what I want to do, and if I wanted to play another year she would 100 percent back me. She would complain about it probably, but she would support me 100 percent.

I think I might step away from the game for a little bit longer than what she did. I feel like I need to just spend some time away from the game in order to come back to it. I know that the NWSL will be here for a long time and I know I can impact immediately, but I also need to think of myself and finally put myself first after this amount of time sacrificing and making those choices of not being fully present. So I do want to treat myself a little bit and step away and just kind of enjoy it because I have to find another job. That’s the reality of how we are living our life; I can’t just retire and walk off into the sunset. I want to take a few months, the rest of the year, to figure out what I want to do next. And that’s going to be a process in itself because I think a lot of us at the end of the road, we struggle with the What now? What’s next?

So, yes, she has had an impact on the decision a little bit, but I have always kind of had this in the back of my mind when I first signed here that I would definitely check back in with myself after the first year and see how I felt and then if I could give it a go. Now we’re at the point where I know that this is a good choice and to have this be my last run. The celebration tour, as we call it, has been amazing so far.

SI: Last time we talked, you and Ashlyn were honest that a part of your decision to move from the Orlando Pride to Gotham FC was the anti-LGBTQIA laws being passed [in Florida] and on your minds as parents. Is it important, being in a new home in New Jersey/New York but knowing athletes play in so many different states, and even you travel to play in different states, to still speak out about what’s going on across the country right now?

AK: For sure, it really is. And I don’t think I have done enough recently because now our governor in Florida is running for president, which is the worst possible scenario that can happen because of what he has done with our state, and at home, because we have a house there and we plan to move back there after the season. Now we are having to sit down and have really difficult conversations about where we want to be and where we want to raise our kids because it isn’t safe and it isn’t a healthy environment, but it is our home. We have created such a beautiful home there, and a community that we absolutely love, and that’s diverse and friendly and safe, and all those great things. But then you have somebody in office who is not at all supportive of your lifestyle, nor your kids’. That goes for everyone in Florida, not just specifically the LGBTQ community, but more so we’re being assaulted as the LGBTQ community there. So, we want to stay. We want to fight; that’s all we can do. But then we really have to start figuring out what’s next for us and where we want to live, and my next job might not be in Florida. I might not be able to work from home. I might have to travel a lot or I might have to be relocated. So we are going to reevaluate during that time, after I am done, to see what we are going to do.

It’s really important that we continue to speak up for these issues and fight for what we believe in because who else will if we don’t? Now that we have kids in the picture, even more so. We want to use our platforms and use our voices consistently for what’s right. We want to fight for those who don’t have a voice and for those who don’t have the platforms that we have and really make it known that we stand on the right side of things.

Of course, no matter what state we live in we’re going to consistently fight for the communities that are being assaulted, and the communities who are marginalized, and underserved communities as well, and fight for racial justice, and social justice, and equality and respect. That will never stop; the work will never be done. I think even more so now that we have to move back to Florida, we’ll definitely do a lot more work there and get a lot more involved to really make it a safer place than it is currently.

SI: Pride night is a highlight of the NWSL season. Why do you think it’s important for the sport, and sports in general, to have pride nights?

AK: I think inclusivity is everything. I think making people feel like they are accepted and that they are valued and appreciated and just living the way that they choose to live and just being themselves. I think that it’s important to create a culture and environment where people feel safe and that they belong. That’s all people want is to feel loved and to belong to something bigger than themselves. At the end of the day, people need people, we need each other to survive, that’s just facts. I think if we can enhance each other’s ability to just live authentically and live people’s truths, then we will all be a lot happier, and this place that we call home will be so much more at peace. I think that’s what that night represents, and that is what this club wants to represent, and make sure in creating an environment where people just feel like themselves and they can be themselves, and they can bring their best selves to whatever it is that they want to do. Whether that’s us on the field playing, whether that’s the coaching staff, the front office staff, the fans, the supporters, the families that come to the game, everyone is welcome and that is what that night is celebrating.

SI: In other leagues, there has been controversy about pride nights, like MLB. Women’s sports seem to be a bit more progressive in that arena. As a pro athlete, and somebody who has seen things evolve, it seems as if some sports are going backward with pride nights. What do you make of that?

AK: I think it starts with leadership. It starts from the top down. So if the leaders in MLB, or any other league that we have in any other sport, if they are not speaking out about pride night or the LGBTQ community or supporting the LGBTQ community, that says a lot about the league, so it starts from top down. Then the players need to come out and speak more in support of every community that we represent. And that is what makes our world what it is and our country what it is, because you have to make sure you're representing every individual that is involved in each of our communities. If we aren’t all represented, then that’s where the problem lies.

So, I think it starts with the commissioners of every league to be outspoken about supporting pride night and the LGBTQ community or whatever community that we are celebrating on any one of those games. And then the players, because the players have the power. The players always have the power of the league, and so I really believe that if the players can speak more out and proud and loud to their fans and supporters, whether they get backlash from it or not, as long as they’re standing their ground and using their voice and really believing in what they want to fight for, it’s really helpful for the other players to feel more confident in doing that.

The organizations themselves, and the people within the organizations, they need to make a change and make sure that they are on the right side and speaking up for us and the queer community and make sure that people know that pride night is celebrated.

SI: It seems, a lot of times LGBTQ athletes are the ones who have to do the speaking up on these subjects. Does that ever feel frustrating to you?

AK: You need allies and you need your coaches to support you and you need your organizations to support you. Because then you feel more like you are appreciated for who you are, and you are bringing your best every single day if people are in support of you living your truth. I think that you can only get the best out of people if you encourage them to be their best selves, which is then supporting their lifestyle. You don’t have to agree with it, but you can support it.

For example, any one of my teammates coming up to me and saying, “Ali, I need you to support me in this for my life or for me to feel more like myself or I am fighting for this. Can you support me and stand by me?” Sure, 100 percent, whatever you need I am there.

No matter what religion that we believe in, we all need to come together and support each other within the team. I think that if it matters to you, then it should matter to me. And that’s the mentality that I think needs to shift, especially in men’s sports.

SI: You have been more open about your relationship and how you chose to build your family. Was making that decision to be more public about your personal life difficult? Do you ever have that instinct to want to cocoon yourselves?

AK: No, not anymore. I think we were a little scared because we were afraid to lose our jobs, to be honest. Especially playing at the highest level and you’ve worked so hard toward something you don’t want to risk that. But we figured that, in order to get the best out of me, I needed to be my full self, for my teammates, for my coaches, for my club, for my country. I needed to tell people who I really am, and not hide. Not that we were hiding, but I felt like only with a certain amount of people I was open and honest, and I wanted to be open and honest no matter who I met and who I was surrounding myself with so that I could give my best.

That’s what I think is really important about our community is that when you do come out, you give people your all, and I think that’s something that’s so special about what Ash and I have done. And that has encouraged and trickled down to fans, supporters, other family members to maybe feel more confident in who they are and who they want to be. Having people come up to us and say “you saved my life” brings me so much joy. That is like the ultimate goal, to just be visible, because it matters. Visibility matters and representation matters, and you don’t see that as often, or at least we didn’t when we were young, and so we were kind of lost for so long. Now, I hope that we can be those beacons of light for other individuals who are struggling with similar circumstances or just are taking their time to figure out how to express to others who they really are.