SANDY, Utah – It was a day whose subtext began seeping into the women’s soccer ether the moment the Utah Royals were unveiled, and perhaps no fan had more invested in that subtext than Chelsea Waddell.
She had become a Thorns FC fan at the dawn of the NWSL because, and as a Salt Lake City resident, Portland was her closest team. They also had her favorite player, Tobin Heath, but without a hometown team, it was an easy call. Years later, when she began splitting her time between the Rose City and Utah, her ties to Portland only grew.