Defender saw limited minutes for Angels.
Allyson Swaby was an intriguing signing for Angel City FC’s inaugural season. A central defender joining from AS Roma, Swaby was an established international, playing for Jamaica, but as a native-born American citizen, she was a domestic player on the roster. It seemed like a win-win.
The Boston College product had never played before in the NWSL, however, and it was unclear how she would fare in the league. Given a dearth of playing time, that question frankly remains open.
Here are Swaby’s competitive stats with Angel City this year:
Swaby got one start, way back in the Challenge Cup, the road loss to the Portland Thorns where the whole team looked pretty wobbly, and otherwise had a few stints off the bench. For center backs, sub appearances are usually hard to come by, and so Swaby had to bide her time.
The lack of playing time on the club front didn’t hurt her national team prospects and Swaby was a fixture for Jamaica at the Concacaf W Championship in July, where she started all five games en route to an impressive 3rd place finish. Yes, Jamaica got rocked in losses to the United States and Canada, but those do happen to be the most recent World Cup and Olympic champs, right? And by getting 3rd place, Jamaica still have a shot of reaching the 2024 Olympics, plus they confirmed their place in next year’s World Cup, their second-ever berth.
But with Angel City, we barely saw Swaby play, and it was puzzling. I think Megan Reid’s emergence likely reduced Swaby’s playing time, but Swaby certainly didn’t look so out of place in her one start that she didn’t deserve another look — after all, Vanessa Gilles looked shaky in that same game Swaby started and she ended up being a fine player, I think we can all agree.
Swaby signed a two-year contract, so presumably she’ll be back next season, but time will tell on that front. First and foremost, I think heading into a World Cup year, she’ll want at least semi-regular playing time, and no one should begrudge that. Will Angel City expand their squad rotation or is the door closed for her? We will see what happens, but I certainly would like to see her get more playing time, whether that’s here or somewhere else, next season.
What do you think? Leave a comment below.