For the Glory KC is back with the 165th episode of the show!

Sporting Kansas City had another quiet week where they didn't make any more signings. They added just one player during the month of January.

Sheena and I worked through the lack of news and the state of the roster with just 20 days to go until the first MLS game kicks off. There was the rumor of signing Israeli CB, Or Blorian and the news that Rapha Wicky got his P-1 visa and coached the preseason game over the weekend.

We also probably looked a little too closely at who played and who didn't in that 1-0 loss to Charlotte FC. Calvin Harris started over Shapi Suleymanov, maybe implying there is at least competition at one position in the starting lineup. The team is still without a single left back on the roster and Zorhan Bassong didn't play, so we don't know if he maybe would get those minutes if he was available or if they are going to sign Jayden Reid, who is on trial. Stephen Afrifa also sat out this latest preseason game. Sheena and I take a stab at who may have earned a spot in the first phase of preseason with the limited info we have. There are three preseason games to go, which may be streamed for the Coachella Valley Invitational.

At the end of the Sporting KC segment, we also talked about Erik Thommy signing with the LA Galaxy, Willy Agada and Joaquin Fernandez finding homes in the Spanish second division and Zoran Savic suing SKC.

The KC Current had a pretty quiet week too. They played a scrimmage against Denver Summit, but neither team said who played or who won. We do know Kyra Carusa scored for Kansas City. She isn't on their roster and is listed as "non-rostered training player" on their preseason announcement. We also got injury updates on Temwa Chawinga and Michelle Cooper and the exciting news that Vanessa DiBernardo had her baby.

In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:

• Kansas Astras win again!
• The World Cup trophy is coming to KC (and a lot of other places)

Here is a rundown of topics and start times:

• Round-up of Sporting KC news - 5:32
• A tiny bit of KC Current news - 46:04
• Digital Crawl - 53:24

As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!

Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.

For the Glory KC is back with the 164th episode of the show!

Trigger warning, we get mildly political in the opening three minutes. Skip ahead or stop listening if it's too much for you. Time stamps, as always, towards the bottom of these show notes.

Sporting Kansas City had almost nothing officially happen this week. That said, unofficially, there was still a lot going on. First, the rumor from Marca.com is that Robert Lewendowski, one of the greatest strikers in the world, may have interest from Sporting KC. Sure, the story says that the Chicago Fire are in the lead (and the article uses a Fire II graphic in error), but it is still something at least worth talking about. Along with the Fire and SKC, LAFC are mentioned as a possible destination.

With new owner Peter Mallouk, all things are possible. That said, this one seems unlikely.

Sheena and I break down that rumor, the ongoing Cesar Inga rumors (which appears to finally be dead), the preseason loss to the Fire, and the actual news of a new coaching staff for Sporting KC. But we have to discuss the rumored Footy Headlines kit leak from Sporting KC for their new secondary jersey.

It says, "recreated" right on the image, but is it a recreation of a real leak? It does have a variation on the argyle/diamond thing that SKC have been doing. Also, Sporting KC updated their profile pic to neon right after the leak and posted this little video.

This may not be the exact kit, but I bet it's pretty close and I like the bold choice. It's a secondary kit, have fun with it! Before we finish with the Sporting KC news, Sheena does a bio of SKC's newest signing, Calvin Harris.

The KC Current didn't have much this week, but they did have all four of their USWNT players start in the 6-0 win over Paraguay and announced a couple more preseason games:

• Sat. JAN 31 - Denver Summit
• Sat. FEB 7 - Angel City FC

In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:

• Four countries doing their basecamp in KC: Argentina, Netherlands, England and Algeria
• MLS rule changes
• Trinity Rodman's record deal to stay in the NWSL
• A weird LA Galaxy/St. Louis City trade rumor

Here is a rundown of topics and start times:

• Sporting KC rumors and a coaching staff announcement - 7:42
• KC Current update - 50:47
• Digital Crawl - 56:19

As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!

Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.

For the Glory KC is back with the 163rd episode of the show and the second show of 2026!

Sporting Kansas City had a pretty big week. No, they didn't do much to fill out their miniscule roster, but it's almost certainly bigger than that. On Friday, news broke that Sporting KC minority owner Peter Mallouk was taking over as majority owner, holding an estimated 80 percent of the team. Sheena and I get into what this means for the team this season and beyond. Sam McDowell from the KC Star got an interview with Mallouk and we discussed several of his big quotes:

• “What you’re going to see next season is a big, big financial commitment,” he said, “to do whatever it takes to build upon what we’re building upon this season. "
• "I really would say 99.5% of the metric I’m going to care about is winning. And 0.5% will be everything else.”
• “The fans are incredible,” Mallouk said. “They deserve a competitor all the time.”

There was actual movement on the roster with the signing of Calvin Harris. We got an inside take from the Burgundy Wave's Matt Pollard who has covered the Colorado Rapids for years. Sheena and I discuss the rumor that Cesar Inga is on his way to Kansas City. And we can't leave out the weird and wild Rogers Mato story. It doesn't stop there though, as SKC won their first preseason game and we have updates on Roger Espinoza, Willy Agada, Robert Voloder, Mason Toye, Paulo Nagamura, Alenis Vargas and Ramiz Hamouda.

The KC Current also had a fairly big week with the announcement of their schedule, the trade of Nichelle Prince and some unfortunate injury new for Michelle Cooper and Temwa Chawinga.

In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:

• England, Netherlands and Argentina are all rumored to want to do World Cup base camp in KC
• Lindsey Heaps is coming to the NWSL
• KC Comets pick up two big wins

Here is a rundown of topics and start times:

• Sporting KC sold! - 9:14
• SKC Sign a Player and lots of other stories - 25:11
• KC Current Schedule, Prince trade and more - 54:16
• Digital Crawl - 1:11:58

As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!

Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.

For the Glory KC is back with the 162nd episode of the show and the second show of 2026!

On this week's episode of For the Glory KC, we discuss the official hire of Sporting Kansas City coach, Rapha Wicky. On Tuesday, he completed his first press conference with the media, and we unpack the details. Topics covered are the length of his contract, how many more players need to be signed by CSO David Lee, and the style of soccer Wicky and Lee want Sporting KC to play. We also learn some fun facts about Wicky, most importantly (for Sheena) we uncover his hair regimen.

The topic of Sporting KC's youth development was also discussed at the press conference. Will SKC Academy players have their best opportunity for a starting position on Sporting KC or SKC II since the roster is bleak? There are a lot of them coming to preseason.

31 players total will be traveling for preseason, which has kicked off in Florida. There are three trialists, two SKC II players, one draft pick, and eight Academy Players who will be joining the team. The first game is on Saturday, January 17th against FIU at 9:00AM CT.

We wrap up the Sporting KC conversations with 'breaking news' about Daniel Salloi and his mustache, Santi Munoz giving his farewell to Kansas City, an update regarding a rumor from last week, and exciting news regarding Zohran Basson and Jacob Molinaro.

The KC Current also had a busy week with the announcement of head coach, Chris Armas. Sheena and I discussed the press conference along with the ESPN and KC Star articles around the hire and give our thoughts. Highlights include the decision-making process and all the qualified candidates the Longs apparently turned down to stick with Armas. On top of that, the news that Canadian Men's National Team coach and apparently Chris Long's college friend, Jesse Marsch made the recommendation to hire Armas.

In the KC Current round-up we say farewell to Bia, hello to forward Ameilia White, and give an update regarding Clare Gagne. Plus, we have updates on Alex Pfeiffer, Regan Steigleder, and some exciting USWNT call ups.

In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:

• KS Astras
• Rumored nations doing base camps in Kansas City for the World Cup
• A massive FA Cup upset
• and Chucky Lozano and Sam Coffey being on the move

Here is a rundown of topics and start times:

• Sporting KC’s Coach Announcement presser - 1:27
• SKC’s Preseason Roster - 37:49
• Sporting KC round-up - 40:28
• KC Current have a coach presser too - 53:58
• Current round-up - 1:13:14
• Digital Crawl - 1:21:15

As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!

Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.

For the Glory KC is back with the 160th episode of the show and the first of 2026!

Sporting Kansas City officially had a relatively quiet week. Unofficially, they have a coach they are set to announce on Monday. Tom Bogert is reporting it, and the team was already teasing an announcement before he broke the story. It looks like it's long rumored Raphael Wicky, who we learned about over a month ago. We give our initial reactions to the news.

While that's unofficial, the team did make one official move this week. Sporting KC traded with the Chicago Fire for 21-year-old right back Justin Reynolds. Couple that with the rumored transfer for Cesar Inga and suddenly Sporting KC nearly have enough defenders to actually play a soccer match.

Sheena and I weigh in on all the news with preseason set to start next weekend. We recap the offseason and the state of the roster, coaching staff and all things Sporting KC headed into the 2026 season. There is still a lot of work to be done and hopefully it's a very busy week of announcements and press conferences to come.

The KC Current got only bad news this week with the announcement that Mary Long tore her ACL. It makes the departure of Alex Pfeiffer even more stunning since the forward depth is nonexistent for the Current. That said, Bia Zaneratto remains available to sign according to her agent. Plus, we talk about happy news for several players who got married or engaged recently.

In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:

• The Columbus Crew hired a coach (only SKC are unofficially left without one)
• LA Galaxy's Puig has another knee surgery
• USL Championship have labor problems

Here is a rundown of topics and start times:

• Sporting KC have their coach, right? - 4:53
• SKC signing and rumor - 15:51
• Where do things stand with SKC? - 26:59
• KC Current injury - 54:02
• Digital Crawl - 1:04:57

As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!

Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.

For the Glory KC is back with the 159th episode of the show and the final episode of season four unless we need an emergency new coach podcast this week!

Sporting Kansas City had another quiet week. We try not to rehash the silence (though it's unavoidable to a certain extent) but instead focus on the one rumor that trickled out. Sporting KC were tied to Albanian midfielder Juljan Shehu. If you want some complaining about the lack of a coach or player signings, check out last week's episode since nothing changed. Something has to happen this week, right? Preseason is in 13 days.

The KC Current got most of the attention for the week and a lot of it for some bad reasons. First, the Current are hiring Chris Armas as their next coach. Sheena and I are underwhelmed. Maybe he'll prove everyone wrong.

The other Kansas City Current news is around the stunning departure of 18-year-old Alex Pfeiffer. We get into our feelings about it, her teammate's feelings, her comments and her family's comments. And a bit of conspiracy theory corner as well.

In more positive news, the KC Current proved teams can work during the week of Christmas as they added two more players in Meila Brewer and Gianna Paul.

In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:

• A look at the NWSL High Impact Player rule
• KC Streetcar update

Here is a rundown of topics and start times:

• Sporting KC finally have a rumor - 9:07
• KC Current hire a coach and fire a player? - 29:34
• Other KC Current moves - 53:58
• Digital Crawl - 56:52

As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!

Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.

For the Glory KC is back with the 158th episode of the show!

Sporting Kansas City made a little noise this week with their four selections in the MLS SuperDraft, including Kwaku Agyebeng, who was signed a contract as a part of his selection. But the biggest question of the week is, are Sporting KC taking too long to hire a coach and build a roster?

Sheena and I debate it, and it is a subject that really got her fired up! Sporting KC remain one of just two teams without a head coach. The Columbus Crew recently announced the departure of Wilfried Nancy to Celtic in Scotland (and he's already on thin ice there, which did leave me wondering if he got fired if he could get the SKC job). But with St. Louis City filling their vacancy this week, it's just Sporting KC and the Crew trying to firm up plans for 2026.

And it's not just the lack of the coach, but it's also the roster. Sporting KC sent most of the team packing and entered the offseason with 13 players. They've since added a Homegrown signing (Cielo Tschantret), traded for a career backup goalkeeper (Stefan Cleveland) and added the aforementioned Agyebeng in the draft. There is a ton of work to do all over the roster and not a ton of time to do it before preseason.

Speaking of preseason, Sporting KC unveiled all six of their games which start in January. They will play five MLS teams and one game against a college (FIU) that is intended as a warm-up. It's a preseason trip that could be worth making as the Kansas City Current play the same weekend as the last SKC game. (Sheena and I are going if you happen to be there!)

Also, in the SKC round-up, we cover the rumored five divisions that will come to MLS when the calendar flips in the 2027-28 season.

The KC Current didn't sit idly by this week as they made two more signings. They added CB Kolo Suliafu and RB Laney Rouse. We also talked through the state of the roster and the impact of the NWSLPA shooting down the proposed High Impact Player rule. The KC Current also announced the newly rebranded "Current Landing" and release some cool renderings of the ongoing construction.

In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:

• USMNT midfielder Tyler Adams tears his MCL
• More MLS expansion rumors for Phoenix, Vegas, Sacramento, Detroit and Indianapolis
• FIFA World Cup prize money
• and the Washington Huskies winning the Men's College Cup

Here is a rundown of topics and start times:

• Sporting KC add four draft picks - 1:30
• Is it time to worry about the lack of a coach/roster? - 15:16
• SKC Round-Up (Preseason schedule and more) - 50:22
• KC Current signings and round-up - 1:04:27
• Digital Crawl - 1:18:37

As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!

Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.

For the Glory KC is back with the 157th episode of the show!

Sporting Kansas City and the KC Current didn't have a ton going on this week, so instead we did a mailbag episode of the podcast. Apologies to those who asked questions we didn't get to, weren't equipped to answer or who we took so long to answer news has come out on your questions.

For a decent junk of the mailbag, we played a game from listener Spencer. He asked us to go back to the end of 2024 and revisit our roster decisions. Knowing what we know now, would we change our mind on players or even regarding Peter Vermes. There was a surprising amount of disagreement!

We also took questions about the active coaching search underway by David Lee, if we should have a For the Glory KC watch party, what the new stadium sponsor should be for Sporting KC, along with some KC Current (and NWSL wages) and World Cup questions.

In the SKC roundup we talked about the Stefan Cleveland trade, the lack of signings this week, the new Saint Luke's sponsorship and the announced preseason dates and schedule. For the KC Current's roundup, we covered their trade and the re-signing of Rocky Rodriguez.

In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:

• New NWSL rule proposals (aka the Trinity Rodman rule)
• MLS Cup final ratings
• Vancouver Whitecaps stadium progress
• and KS Astras and KC Comets results and schedule

Here is a rundown of topics and start times:

• MAILBAG - 07:04
• SKC Roundup - 54:29
• KC Current Roundup - 1:03:20
• Digital Crawl - 1:05:15

As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!

Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.

For the Glory KC is back with the 156th episode of the show!

The headline for Kansas City soccer this week is the World Cup! The FIFA World Cup draw went down last Friday with games announced on Saturday. Kansas City get six games in the 2026 World Cup, and the first four matchups are now known:

• 1st: Argentina vs. Algeria on June 16th at 8PM 
• 2nd: Ecuador vs Curacao, June 20th at 7PM
• 3rd: Tunisia vs. Netherlands, June 25th at 6PM
• 4th: Algeria vs. Austria, June 27th at 9PM

KC also host a July 3rd round of 32 game and a July 11th quarterfinal, that could feature Messi vs. Ronaldo. If Argentina and Portugal win their groups and their first two knockout games then the biggest game in the world (before the final) will be in Kansas City. That's all assuming Messi even plays. And that they are both healthy. It's a long-shot, but it could happen!

The United States Men's National team also found out their group, and it's quite winnable. They start off against Paraguay and also play Australia and the winner of the UEFA playoff between Turkiye, Slovakia, Romania and Kosovo. The USMNT could even play in Kansas City if everything falls the right way, but part of that is them ending up third in their group, which would be a disappointment. 

Sporting Kansas City are still top of mind with a few big moments this week. First, Kerry Zavagnin officially parted ways with the club after 26 years. Sheena and I give our thoughts and then we share the rumor of two potential replacement coaching candidates. Raphael Wicky, who is a rumored finalist, is who we know the most about after this time with the Chicago Fire.

In other Sporting KC news, they have a rumored goalkeeper trade. It'll be the team's fourth keeper if Stefan Cleveland officially arrives from Austin FC. He's never been a long-term starter, but at 31-years-old he can push John Pulskamp and share what he's learned behind some of the best keepers in the league while playing for the Seattle Sounders and Austin FC.

In KC Current news, the team signed new two-year contracts with Mary Long and Katie Scott, officially said goodbye to goalkeeper Laurel Ivory and saw their former star defender, Hailie Mace, sign with the Orlando Pride.

They also had a less than stellar showing in the World Sevens Football competition over the weekend.

In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:

• Trinity Rodman possible leaving the NWSL
• MLS Cup between Inter Miami and the Vancouver Whitecaps
• KS Astras win their MASLW opener
• Former Swope Park Rangers coach, Marc dos Santos, gets a big upgrade

Here is a rundown of topics and start times:

• World Cup and Kansas City - 
• Sporting KC Coaching Update - 
• SKC Round-Up including a rumored trade - 
• KC Current World Sevens and more - 
• She Scores - 
• Digital Crawl - 

Upcoming Game

• KS Astras vs. Iowa Raptors, Sat. Dec. 13th @ 4:00PM

As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!

Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.

For the Glory KC is back with the 155th episode of the show!

Sporting Kansas City and the KC Current did literally nothing this week, so we are filling in with offseason content!

Sheena and I did our first ever "For the Glory KC Awards" and gave out many fake prizes to players on both teams. From MVP to Newcomer of the year to strange categories like best hair and best personality. There are the awards you'd expect and everything in between.

We also asked the question, which is more shocking? Peter Vermes getting fired with nearly four years left on his contract or Vlatko Andonovski stepping down unexpectedly after the greatest regular season in NWSL history?

Speaking of Vermes, he was reported to be up for the Atlanta United job that ultimately went to Tata Martino. Which left the question, where should Peter land if he stays in MLS? There are only a few jobs left open and the New York Red Bulls one looks like it's going to Michael Bradley (according to Tom Bogert of the Athletic). So that only left open the Colorado Rapids, Columbus Crew (soon enough), St. Louis City and of course Sporting KC.

In addition to picking Vermes' landing spot, we ponder the question of how nervous should we be that Sporting KC still only have 14 signed players and no coach with preseason set to start in just over five weeks on January 10th?

We also cover the news about Kansas City and the 2031 Women's World Cup, Bia Zaneratto possibly heading to Brazil and a lot of USWNT news for the full team, U-23s and U-20s.

In the Digital Crawl, we hit on a few more topics, including:

• MLS Cup where everyone is rooting for Vancouver over Miami
• The 2028 Copa America maybe coming to the USA
• Phoenix possibly landing MLS and NWSL expansion teams
• and UMKC's NCAA Tournament fate

Here is a rundown of topics and start times:

• End of Year Awards - 3:22
• Sporting KC roster, coach and Vermes' fate - 47:22
• 2031 WWC Update - 56:28
• KC Current roundup - 1:04:12
• She Scores - 1:06:35
• Digital Crawl - 1:17:31

Upcoming Games

• MLS Cup: Vancouver Whitecaps vs Inter Miami, Saturday, Dec. 6th at 1:30PM CST
• World Sevens Football Tourney
• Women’s College Cup (CPKC Stadium)

As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!

Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.