There is a moment from Gotham FC’s NWSL Championship celebrations in Manhattan last month that stayed with England defender Jess Carter.
In contrast to blue and white confetti sprinkled through the New York sky as “Empire State of Mind” and “Feliz Navidad” blared through the speakers, it was in a much quieter moment. Carter was standing atop a blue, double-decker bus, waiting for their parade to begin, when she noticed a young fan in the crowd.
The fan stood in the cold, beaming with excitement, holding a sign not meant for Carter, but Gotham’s goalkeeper and Carter’s fiancée, Ann-Katrin Berger.
“He was just so excited to see us, but it wasn’t to see us, it was to see Ann,” Carter told The Athletic on a recent video call, with a proud smile. “We’ve always talked about inspiring little girls, but that’s a little boy, and he’s looking up to us and thinking that this is something he could do. That was a really beautiful moment.”
Gotham’s celebrations punctuated the end of a grueling season for the 28-year-old defender. In a span of 181 days, Carter won three major titles for both club and country: the inaugural Concacaf W Champions Cup with Gotham in May, the European Championship with England in July, and, last month, she helped Gotham win their second NWSL title.
Unlike 2023, Gotham FC celebrated with a parade in NYC after winning the 2025 NWSL championship. (Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
“Winning with England is always incredible, and getting to win this trophy here with Gotham has been amazing,” Carter said. She laughed, then continued, “I’m still trying to understand this league (the NWSL). But being part of it and seeing how special the championship is, and how much it means to everyone, is incredible. This team, they’re great people. So, getting to do it with them was even better.”
Carter signed with Gotham last summer after six years at Chelsea. The five-time Women’s Super League champion, already one of the best defenders in the world, quickly became a vital part of the NWSL club’s backline.
“The athleticism here is unmatched,” Carter said. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced before, on a regular basis. Everybody seems to be super strong and super fast and super fit, whereas when I played in Europe, I felt I was competing more comfortably for strength and for pace with a lot of players. Here, everything has to be spotless; otherwise, you get punished.”
While the WSL remains more tactical, the style of play in NWSL is rapidly evolving, Carter said.
“Even since I’ve been here just over a year, teams that maybe would have traditionally gone a bit more direct are now trying to play out through the back, and they’re trying to build and (be) more technical and tactical,” she said. “That’s coming into the NWSL a lot more. I think having a lot of players from all over the world is what contributes to that.”
For Carter, the celebrations in Manhattan doubled as a belated celebration for winning a second consecutive Euros with England over the summer. She missed out on the massive homecoming her national team received in London after topping Spain in the final, opting instead to fly back to the United States early to rejoin Gotham.
England defeated Spain to win a second consecutive Euros title. (Richard Sellers / Getty Images)
Coming back served as a necessary reset for Carter, who was targeted by online racist abuse from the start of the tournament. Two days before England’s semifinal against Italy, Carter shared a statement on Instagram condemning the abuse. She said she would be stepping away from social media as a result.
“It was really tough,” Carter said. “I’m not someone who would speak out about something like that. I’m happy to ask for help, but I don’t think I really realized how much I needed support at the time. A lot of people are taught from young to ignore it and move on and rise above it. And it’s, like – actually, why? Why should we not speak about it?”
At first, Carter ignored the abuse and moved on, believing any response would be giving in. But the hate didn’t stop.
“You don’t want to let those people win,” she said. “It’s only getting worse and worse in the women’s game, and that’s something that we don’t want to be part of our game.”
Carter’s sister encouraged the defender to speak out, asking her to consider how she would feel if this were happening to her nieces or nephews, or her teammates.
“There’s a lot of stuff that happens in football that you just have to get on with, but my sister was like, ‘If this was Khiara (Keating), LJ (Lauren James), me – if this was them it was happening to, you’d want to be able to support them. You’d want them to speak up about it.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, of course I would.’
“I’ve got mixed-race nieces and nephews. It’s not just about me. It’s for all the little boys and girls looking up to me or trying to find anybody that looks like them. It’s really hard to find anyone that looks like me trying to do my job, and the fact that I can be that for someone else, I owe it to myself and to them to continue to fight.”
England defender Jess Carter spoke out against racist abuse in hopes of helping others. (Matthias Hangst / Getty Images)
There was an immediate outpouring of support for Carter, from her coach, Sarina Wiegman, and her teammates, to the global soccer community. “But then on the other side of it, I got more abuse for attention seeking and lying or bringing that negative attention on the team,” Carter said. “It’s like, you could have 1,000 positive comments, but there’s one or two, still, I think (that) hurt more than the 1,000 positive.”
Two men have been arrested in relation to the online racist abuse sent to Carter, which she sees as an important step toward meaningful change. The matter remains ongoing. The BBC reported earlier this week that one man will be summoned to court, with police telling the publication he would be charged with making malicious communications.
“A lot of reasons why people don’t speak up when they face any abuse, is because, well, what’s it going to do? (They think that) nothing’s going to happen. … When people see there’s repercussions to their actions, they just might second-guess what they say or what they do,” Carter said. “Holding people accountable is the biggest step in trying to keep the women’s game as clean as possible.”
Carter was with the Lionesses when they won their first-ever Euros championship in England. They overcame eight-time champions Germany in the final in extra time. But this summer, when they defeated World Cup winners Spain, it felt different for Carter, who played a bigger role on the pitch for their 2025 championship.
Carter remembers how “up and down” the tournament felt for England, which opened the competition with a stunning loss to France, followed by a 4-0 bounce-back victory against the Netherlands.
“What I’m most proud of is staying true to myself in that whole experience of the Euros,” Carter said. “For me, it’s about: how do we rise above it and show what I can do and continue to persevere and grow? That’s the biggest thing that I took away from the Euros. It’s not even just the win. It’s the fight, the determination, that all of us showed.”
England’s path to victory parallels Gotham’s journey to its second NWSL crown in three seasons. The team entered the postseason in the final qualifying spot. They orchestrated the biggest upset of the year when they defeated Kansas City Current – statistically, the best team to ever play in the league – in the quarterfinals.
Gotham defender Jess Carter helped her team defeat the Washington Spirit in the NWSL final. (Kelley L Cox / Getty Images)
Gotham went on to defeat the Washington Spirit in the championship match. Last year, Gotham was left heartbroken when the Spirit defeated them in the 2024 semifinals after a penalty kick shootout.
Gotham’s Championship win happened on a Saturday night in San Jose. By Monday morning, the team was back on the East Coast, standing atop those blue buses as they prepared to roll down Broadway. The celebration felt like it was owed to Gotham and its fanbase after their 2023 championship was met with far less fanfare. The club and city officials made it happen, with 36 hours between Gotham lifting the NWSL trophy in PayPal Park and receiving the keys to New York City on the steps of City Hall.
This year, Carter has become a more visible face for brands around the world, including e.l.f. Cosmetics in the United States. The makeup company spotlighted Carter as one of their chosen trailblazers in a documentary-style campaign series.
She plans to enjoy downtime and visit family in England and Germany. Then she will be “ready to go again.” “It’s been nice to switch off from football, that’s for sure,” Carter said.
Gotham has a short offseason, with the inaugural FIFA Women’s Champions Cup fast approaching. When Gotham won the Concacaf W Champions Cup in May, they qualified as the reigning continental champions to FIFA’s new global club competition. They will play Brazilian club Corinthians in the tournament’s semifinal on Jan. 28 at the Brentford Community Stadium in west London. The winner then heads to Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium for the final on Feb. 1.
“Sometimes I wish it was somewhere else, because I know London,” Carter said, with a laugh. “But at the same time, the NWSL deserves to be recognized, and it’s a great opportunity for us to do that in London. Women’s football is excellent in England, and hopefully a lot of women’s football fans turn out and want to come and watch.”
Maybe there will be another young fan in the crowd who will catch Carter’s attention. “When I think about how I’d speak to my younger self, or the younger boys or younger girls, it’s just about staying true to yourself,” Carter said. “I don’t think people realize what you’re capable of, until you’re really put in those tough situations.”
She is capable of plenty, including a few championships in a span of 181 days.