Allie Long traded from Portland, moves to Seattle Reign

Portland Thorns midfielder Allie Long has been traded to the Seattle Reign as part of a deal involving Sky Blue FC.

Sky Blue FC traded the rights to Australian international Caitlin Foord to the Seattle Reign in exchange for New Zealand defender Rebekah Stott and Mexico forward Katie Johnson. Seattle then turned around and sent Foord’s rights to Portland as well as a conditional second-round draft pick in 2020 in exchange for Allie Long.

This is probably a good move that benefits both Portland and Seattle. Long’s time on the field for Portland dwindled near the end of the 2017 season and she lost her starting spot on the roster. “I think there’s competition all over the field,” Thorns head coach Mark Parsons said of the decision back in August. Now Long will go to Seattle, who struggled in the midfield all last season, where she could form nice a tandem with Jess Fishlock.

Meanwhile, Portland gets a world-class player in Foord, who seemed unlikely to want to return to Sky Blue and is much more likely to actually suit up for Portland. And Sky Blue got two very good players in return for Foord’s rights, making this a trade where all sides seem to have come out with something in the win column.

Of course, Portland and Seattle have a minor rivalry between them, and Long was a Thorns fixture with 104 caps in the Rose City as well as being an inaugural part of the roster when NWSL launched in 2013. We’ll see what Long’s reception is like when (if?) she dons the blue and black for Seattle.