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Portland Thorns head coach Rhian Wilkinson has agreed to a request from the club’s players to resign.
The appeal came despite Wilkinson being cleared of any wrongdoing by the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), after she admitted a friendship she formed with a player “turned into more complex emotions”.
Wilkinson had reported herself to the club’s human resources and the matter was investigated by the league and the players association (NWSPA), and she was exonerated.
But she says the “narrative regarding my actions has taken on a life of its own” and she has agreed to step down, despite having led the team to a third NWSL championship.
She said: “During my time as the Thorns coach, a player and I formed a friendship that turned into more complex emotions. In mid-October, the player shared her feelings to me, and I reciprocated. While this was a human moment, it went no further than this expression of feelings for one another.
“In an effort to follow NWSL and NWSLPA processes to protect player safety, and to be as transparent as possible, the player and I immediately stopped spending time outside of training together, and soon after stopped all communication outside of work. In less than a week, I reported myself to human resources to make sure I had not crossed any ethical lines.
“After a thorough investigation during our play-off run, including a review of all communication between myself and the player, as well as interviews with both of us and staff members, I was completely exonerated of any wrong doing.
“Once the investigation was over, I informed all staff of what had taken place, but the players found out before I was able to inform them myself. The narrative regarding my actions has now taken on a life of its own, and as a result I can understand that the Portland players feel hurt and have to deal with another non-soccer related situation.
“I would like to thank the Portland Thorns organisation, the fans, the staff and most importantly the players for a remarkable year. During my time in Portland I have met some incredible people and been fortunate enough to coach some of the best players in the game. It was a year to remember.”
“The Portland Thorns and coach Wilkinson followed all League processes and policies and fully cooperated with this investigation,” said NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman. “The joint investigative team conducted a thorough investigation that resulted in a finding of no violation of League policies.”
In her only season at the helm, Portland posted a record of 10-3-9 and won the club’s league-best third NWSL Championship.
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