Washington Spirit announce 2021 NWSL allocated players

The Washington Spirit today announced that Kelley O’Hara, Emily Sonnett, and Andi Sullivan are on the NWSL’s list of allocated players. The player allocation process is a method by which national team players for the USWNT and Canada’s national team have their salaries paid by their federation rather than their NWSL club.

Last year, Washington’s only allocated player was Rose Lavelle, but offseason trades to acquire O’Hara and Sonnett and Sullivan’s place in Vlatko Andonovski’s plans have given the Spirit their largest total of allocated players since the 2018 season. This year’s list includes 32 players (22 from the USWNT, 10 from Canada), with Sullivan, who was previously on a multi-year contract with the Spirit, being allocated for the first time. O’Hara and Sonnett, meanwhile, are holdovers from previous years.

Changes to NWSL rules allowing clubs to directly sign USWNT players with allocation money had opened up the prospect of some significant changes to the Federation’s list of players on USWNT salaries. This has come up with the Portland Thorns, who have signed both Crystal Dunn and Lindsey Horan to contracts outside the allocation system.

Every NWSL team, save for expansion side Racing Louisville, has ended up with at least one allocated player. Interestingly, today’s announcement includes a note that Lavelle and Sam Mewis (both of whom are currently playing for Manchester City) “will receive an allocated salary from U.S. Soccer should they return to the NWSL for the 2021 Season.”

The current Spirit roster/contract breakdown, per past team press releases and B&RU reporting, is as follows: