LI's Allie Long traded to NJ/NY Gotham FC

Allie Long is coming as close to home as she can in the National Women's Soccer League.

The two-time Newsday girls soccer player of the year from Northport High School turned World Cup winner is now a member of NJ/NY Gotham FC, the club announced Tuesday.

Long was acquired from OL Reign in exchange for $80,000 in allocation money and Gotham FC’s 2022 second-round draft pick. The clubs also will swap places on the list determining the NWSL’s discovery rankings as part of the deal.

"[Long’s] distribution and ability on the ball are matched with her ability to compete & win tackles off the ball," Gotham coach Freya Coombe said in a news release. "She has a strong desire to compete and brings a wealth of experience in the league. We have emphasized recruiting players who have won championships and have a highly competitive mentality to achieve our goal of bringing trophies to NJ/NY Gotham FC and Allie embodies that mentality."

A Northport High School graduate, Long never lost a regular season match in her high school career, receiving all-state recognition three times and winning Newsday’s player of the year awards for 2004 and 2005. After two seasons at Penn State, Long transferred to North Carolina, where she won a national championship as a senior.

As a professional, Long played in the now defunct Women’s Premier Soccer for three seasons, including one with Gotham’s predecessor, Sky Blue FC. After a stint overseas with Paris Saint-Germain, she played briefly with the New York Fury of the also-defunct Women’s Premier Soccer League before joining the Portland Thorns in 2013 for the inaugural NWSL season, where she scored 30 goals in 102 league appearances and won two championships. A 2018 trade saw her move north to the Seattle area with OL Reign, where she made 41 appearances over three years.

The 33-year-old has made her mark on the international game as well. She made her U.S. women’s national team debut in May 2014 and played on the 2016 Olympic team, but was in and out of the side in the years after, mostly appearing in friendly matches. Yet ahead of the 2019 Women’s World Cup, Long was selected for the trip to France, playing 32 minutes in a group stage match against Chile en route to the United States’ fourth World Cup victory.

Long joins Gotham FC in a period of transition as the club looks to improve its visibility in the New York market. Rebranded from its old Jersey-centric Sky Blue identity for 2021, the club will make its home for the NWSL regular season at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, home of Major League Soccer’s New York Red Bulls, after spending much of its history at Rutgers’ Yurcak Field. Gotham is playing its 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup matches at Montclair State University.

"Allie is a player we have admired for a while, so having this opportunity to bring in another veteran with tremendous experience to Gotham FC is fantastic for our club," general manager Alyse LaHue said in a news release. "We look forward to her joining us and having another New York native for our fans to cheer on."