OL Lyonnes claimed a surprise 25th French title after their manager hadn’t even realised the league was decided via a playoff system. That added France to Italy and Japan in being ticked off Holm’s Trailblazer challenge, so three down and eight to go (although Australia may not be possible).
Holm considered staying at the club to have a crack at the Champions League but, upon looking at the finances, decided she really couldn’t be bothered with it. She departs Lyon after one season, in which she managed 32 games, won 20 (62% win ratio), drew 6 and lost 6, scoring 72 goals and conceding 27.
Upon resigning, very few jobs were available. And of those that were, Holm couldn’t apply for the vacant Nordsjaelland job, so it looked like Denmark may also be impossible. Furthermore, the Liverpool, Coruna and Spurs jobs all become available… but she also wasn’t able to apply for the roles. She was offered an interview by Werder Bremen, which would have been a waste of time as they were expected to finish 10th in Frauen-Bundesliga.
It took until January 2038 for a job that was interesting and Holm could actually apply for to become available, which arrived in the form of an offer from the USA. So Holm was heading to her third continent and her seventh club in seven countries.
Who Are Bay FC?
Bay Football Club is a professional soccer team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The club was founded in 2024 as an expansion team in the National Women’s Soccer League. Bay FC was launched by co-chairpersons Aly Wagner, a former USA international, and Alan Waxman, the CEO of Sixth Street. However, in 2033, it was the subject of a tycoon takeover by new chairperson Israel Gomes.
The club has yet to win a major honour, with a record-high finish of 5th place in 2027. Bay FC just finished 10th in NWSL, a massive 45 points behind league-topping Orlando Pride, but only 3 points outside the eight-team playoffs. However, it finished in a lowly 15th two seasons ago.
Bay FC play at the 18,000-capacity PayPal Park in San Jose, California. That’s supported by good training facilities, average youth facilities and good academy coaching and youth recruitment. Based on previous experience with US teams, Holm hoped this move would offer some relief from women’s football financial issues and, to an extent, it did, as Bay FC have £2.8m in the bank balance, but only £100k available to spend and £15k spare in a £71k weekly wage budget.
Holm had a couple of familiar faces in the Bay FC changing room, in former Everton centre back Andisiwe Mbane and former Everton and Fiorentina full back Cristiane. Other key players include Danish goalkeeper Johanne Thyrrestrup, defender Armine Nigoyan, versatile Australian midfielder Madeleine Caspers, Argentinian striker Rocío Dias, 21-year-old Spanish midfielder Patricia Esperón, Moroccan winger Amina Saidi and young centre backs Isabelle Falk and Eliza Freeman.
Holm boosted the finances by selling seven players for £850k. She then left a few backup players and youngsters out of a provisional squad registration… which inadvertently resulted in them all accepting early contract terminations! Holm added rapid Brazilian striker Liana Schappo for £200k from Spurs and bulked out the squad with loanees, including midfielder Magdalena Burgic, who was one of the nine players she signed at Leipzig before jumping ship to OL Lyonnes.
The best approach for the players available looked like being a pretty basic 4-3-3 that dropped into a 4-1-4-1. Bay FC had a few decent attackers, but Holm wanted to try and be solid at the back first and foremost.
First Taste of American Women’s Soccer
Bay FC aren’t considered among the favourites to win NWSL, with the bookies backing them to finish 7th with title odds of 100/1. Angel City are 5/4 favourites, followed by holders Orlando Pride and San Diego Wave (11/4), Houston Dash (25/1), KC Current (33/1) and Portland Thorns (100/1).
Holm’s American adventure began with several players lacking match sharpness after injuries and two on international duty for a month. They did well to get a draw at Denver Summit, albeit conceding a late equaliser, before a first-half Caspers brace delivered a 2-1 win at home to NC Courage. Caspers scored again before winger Anna Deering earned the same result at home to Boston Legacy and after Schappo got her first goal for the club in a 3-0 win at Washington Spirit.
But now the games got tough, as they lost 3-1 at Angel City, but a Dias double earned a really impressive 3-0 win over Houston. There were goals aplenty across NWSL, including another Dias brace inspiring a wild 4-3 win at home to Seattle Reign a few weeks after Gotham and Louisville had drawn 6-6!
Superstar Banda Joins Bay FC
A long mid-season break followed, in which Holm managed to secure the signing of global superstar Barbra Banda on a free transfer from Chelsea. Now 38, the striker has scored 247 goals in 352 league games and 105 in 94 caps for Zambia, but is still an absolute monster. However, it would require Holm to change the formation to squeeze her into the side alongside the in-form Dias. Holm was also forced to sell Nigoyan, who’d only averaged 6.72 this season, to Arsenal for a huge £1.6m and Caspers to Liverpool for £200k after she refused to sign a new contract.
Banda looked decent enough on debut, creating a few chances for her new teammates as winger Rachel Domínguez Ibarra scored the only goal at home to Utah Royals. But she got her first goal in game three, powering home a header for the only goal at home to San Diego. Bay FC went on to draw five games in a row, including an impressive comeback with Banda’s header nicking a point at home to leaders Angel City. A good run of form ended with a bang in a 5-1 defeat at Houston, before losing 1-0 at home to Orlando.
Burgic got them back on track with the only goal at Seattle to at least the club’s all-time best finish of 5th with 4 games remaining. And, despite a fairly tricky end to the season, Bay FC did come home in 5th place. They finished on 50 points after 13 wins, 11 draws and 6 defeats, scoring 60 and conceding 48, coming home 22 points behind NWSL Shield winners San Diego, who’d signed superstar striker Felicia Schroder. Dias was the league’s 8th top scorer with 16 in 29.
That took Bay FC into the NWSL Championship (the playoffs), which began with a trip to 4th-place finishers Portland. Banda had a knock, so Holm reverted to the 4-3-3. Portland bossed the early stages before Dias saw a decent chance well saved, and Portland missed a glaring chance from a cross then hit the bar from 30 yards. But some truly shocking defending handed the hosts the lead just before halftime. A lack of fullback defending gave Portland a second after an hour and, with that, their season was over.
Improved But A Disappointing Season Conclusion
Despite being pleased to make the playoffs, Holm was pretty disappointed with how Bay FC ended the season. The addition of Banda hadn’t really worked and their form dipped off, only winning two of their last 14 matches. So Holm knew changes were needed ahead of next season.
Dias led the way with a new club record 16 goals in 30 games, followed by Saidi (6) and Banda and Burgic (5), while Ibarra topped the assists with 9, followed by Deering (7), Saidi (6) and Dias and Cristiane (4). But it was pretty clear they needed more goal contributions across the squad.
The financial issues in women’s football in FM26 haven’t escaped NWSL. But the more annoying issue in the league is transfers, with American clubs constantly offering ridiculous trade offers. Teams propose the exact same trades for Bay FC’s best players every other day, even when the transfer window was supposedly closed. And the one trade offer Holm did accept at the start of the season, worth £750k, didn’t even appear in the club’s bank balance, so she wouldn’t be considering any more trades.
Could Holm strengthen Bay FC for her second season in the USA? Join us on Monday to find out!
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