NJ/NY Gotham FC forward McKenna “Mak” Whitham became the youngest player to appear for a U.S. top-flight professional team on Sunday.
Whitham entered Sunday’s match in the 80th minute of her team’s 1-0 win over the Washington Spirit at Subaru Park in Chester, Pa. She turned 14 on Saturday and signed with Gotham earlier in the week as a national team replacement player, a mechanism the NWSL uses to fill out rosters during major tournaments.
“We've identified Mak as a special talent, but it will obviously take some time for him to reach his potential,” Gotham coach Juan Carlos Amorós said after the match.
Whitham's guaranteed contract begins Jan. 1, 2025, and runs through 2028.
“I considered myself a very good player, but I also had a lot of room for improvement and I knew I could do it,” Whitham told ESPN earlier this week. “And I think it's a lot of hard work and self-belief.”
Philadelphia Union's Cavan Sullivan had set the record for youngest appearance in a U.S. top-flight match just 11 days earlier at the same stadium when he made an appearance in the final minutes of his team's 5-1 win over the New England Revolution in an MLS regular-season match.
Sullivan, who surpassed former USMNT prodigy Freddy Adu's mark, was 14 years, 293 days old on the day of his debut.
However, Amoros said the fact that Whitham broke the record in the same stadium was purely coincidental.
“It definitely wasn't on purpose, I have to say,” Amoros added. “The team needed her at that moment and that's when she came in. Whatever it was, it was going to be a special moment for her that she would remember forever.”
“She played her role, just as she has done behind the scenes in training every day helping the team. She showed us that she is ready.”
Prior to Whitham's signing with Gotham, the youngest signing in the NWSL was Melanie Barcenas with San Diego Wave FC in 2023. Barcenas was 15 years and 177 days old at the time.
The NWSL created new rules in 2023 to allow teams to sign players under the age of 18. Previously, players had to participate in the NWSL Draft or were only signed under certain league exemptions. Beginning in 2024, each team can sign up to four players under the age of 8.
Whitham had trained with Gotham on and off throughout 2024 and scored for the reigning NWSL champions as a non-roster invitee during a preseason tournament in Colombia.
Gotham general manager Yael Averbuch West told ESPN that club leaders did a lot of self-evaluation on their ability to support the youngest player in league history before signing her.
“It's a really important moment that we want to celebrate for Mak,” Averbuch West told ESPN. “But she knows, and we know, that this is a moment in the journey, and what will ultimately define the success of this is who Mak becomes as a professional over time.”
“We are truly committed to supporting her to continue being a top professional in the NWSL.”
Sunday's match was part of the NWSL x Liga MX Summer Cup, a new tournament involving the best teams from the United States and Mexico, similar to the Leagues Cup between MLS and Liga MX teams that began its second edition on Friday.
