The team led by the ownership group of actors, actresses, athletes and other high-profile prominent figures, needed a star at the top of the first Angel City FC roster.
For Angel City FC sporting director Eniola Aluko, that was an easy choice.
“I’ve been a fan of Christen (Press) for a long time,” Aluko said. “I’ve played against her. She’s just super … very intelligent footballer. It is exciting to be able to build a team around somebody like her and off the field, she’s very aligned with the purpose of Angel City and she’s from L.A. You can’t get anybody better than that.”
After a successful career with the U.S. Women’s National team, stops in Europe and in the NWSL, the hometown girl is finally back home.
Press was raised in Palos Verdes Estates and attended Chadwick School. In high school, she led the way to a pair of CIF-Southern Section championships in 2005-06 and was named CIF-SS Player of the Year both years. She then went off to Stanford, where she holds career records in goals (71) and points (183) and won the Hermann Trophy as a senior.
“Honestly, Southern California youth soccer is why I am here,” Press said.
Angel City traded for Press’ playing rights last August and she soon became the first player to sign with the new expansion club.
Press and Angel City FC will make their NWSL regular-season debut on Friday night at Banc of California Stadium against the North Carolina Courage.
“I’ve been waiting for my entire professional career to be able to come back and play at home,” Press said. “And I think for the majority of my career, I didn’t think that was going to be a reality. I was lucky growing up in Southern California to watch the 99ers (World Cup 1999 team) win the World Cup in person.
“It kind of felt like a long way away before we would ever have an L.A. team. I think the whole universe knew I wanted to come back, play and be at home and represent this amazing city that’s given me so much.”
Angel City FC was announced in July of 2020. It will be the first women’s professional soccer team in L.A. since the Los Angeles Sol of the WPS folded in 2010. The absence has only made the soccer community hungrier for a women’s team as evident by the early season-ticket sales for Angel City.
“I think when the project was announced, there was so much social media buzz that the first player they (supporters) wanted was Christen Press,” Aluko said. “Growing up, we didn’t have women’s football on TV. We didn’t have female role models, my role models were Serena and Venus Williams and they’re from a different sport.
“So, now the youth can watch women’s football on TV, we have big superstars like Christen Press that young girls growing up in L.A. can say, ‘Oh my God, I want to be Christen Press!’ They now have identifiable role models to follow.”
Press was traded by the Chicago Red Stars to the Utah Royals in 2018. At the end of 2020, the Royals left her unprotected in the NWSL Expansion Draft. Racing Louisville FC selected her, but two months prior, Press had joined Manchester United on a one-year contract.
Then came Angel City’s trade with Racing Louisville and now Press is home.
“The fact that the club wanted me to be their first player and to celebrate that I share some of the values that the club has is an honor and a privilege and is something I’m really proud of,” Press said. “I think it’s also an opportunity for me to continue to engage in this community and with this community.
“A lot of my friends and family have traveled the world watching me play in countries all over the United States for the last 11 years, 12 years. So it’s a treat to be able to give them a schedule and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to be in L.A. for 11 home games at the Banc (of California Stadium) this season.’ I think it makes me very proud and very motivated to make sure that this chapter ahead of me is the best chapter.”
NORTH CAROLINA COURAGE at ANGEL CITY FC
Where: Banc of California Stadium
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
TV: CBSSN
