Backpasses Ep. 1: A Quick (Wild) History of Women’s Pro Soccer in the U.S.

2026-02-16

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Backpasses Ep. 1: A Quick (Wild) History of Women’s Pro Soccer in the U.S.We just fired up the time machine and took the most chaotic walk through U.S. women’s soccer history—because if you’re loving the NWSL right now, you should know what it took to get here. We go from the barely-documented 1919 league, to the Craig League in 1950, to the USWNT forming in the ‘80s, to the brutal three-season curse of WUSA and WPS. We get into the WPSL quietly holding it down, then the early NWSL “YouTube days,” the Lifetime storytelling wins, and the GO90 streaming nightmare. And we don’t dodge the hard stuff: the 2021...

We just fired up the time machine and took the most chaotic walk through U.S. women’s soccer history—because if you’re loving the NWSL right now, you should know what it took to get here. We go from the barely-documented 1919 league, to the Craig League in 1950, to the USWNT forming in the ‘80s, to the brutal three-season curse of WUSA and WPS. We get into the WPSL quietly holding it down, then the early NWSL “YouTube days,” the Lifetime storytelling wins, and the GO90 streaming nightmare. And we don’t dodge the hard stuff: the 2021 reporting, the Yates investigation, and why real player protections finally had to happen. Come argue, learn, and nerd out with us—this series is just getting started.

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00:00 Backpasses Ep. 1 - US WoSo History
01:18 Before the beginning
03:49 In the beginning
06:35 An Evolution
10:50 A New Chapter(s)
17:31 NWSL: YouTube Era
25:43 NWSL: Lifetime Era & go90
33:59 NWSL: Modern Day Era

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