Portland Thorns FC

Portland Thorns FC have been the benchmark of the NWSL since the league kicked off. Founded in 2012 as one of the original clubs, the Thorns have lifted the NWSL Championship three times — 2013, 2017 and 2022 — and taken the NWSL Shield as regular-season winners in 2016 and 2021. They built the league’s crowd, too. Portland led the NWSL in attendance from 2013 to 2021, the first club to average more than 10,000 a match and later the first to average 20,000. Providence Park is the reason the rest of the league measures itself against Portland. Christine Sinclair is the club’s all-time leading scorer with 71 goals, and Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath, Lindsey Horan and Sophia Wilson have all worn the red.