With all of the NWSL teams having kicked off their 2026 preseasons, it’s a great time to look back at the general roster turnover trends of the clubs which have won the NWSL Shield or Championship going back to the league’s inaugural season back in 2013. 

Looking generally at the number of returning players does not account for other factors like returning minutes played, key injuries, general advancement of the league, or things like coaching changes which can have a drastic impact on a teams’ success. 

The early years in the NWSL had much smaller rosters, a shorter season, and much shorter contracts being signed by players which accounts for the 2013 turnover numbers being so low—if you were to look at all of the teams’ turnover from year one, the percentage of returning players is low across the board. 

As the rosters grew in size, the percentage of returning players roughly remained in a similar range—with the exception of 2023’s Shield winners (San Diego Wave), and Championship winners (Gotham FC). 

Almost half of all Shield or Championship winning clubs went on to collect hardware in the subsequent year, while closer to a quarter of teams didn’t even make the playoffs in the following season. 

Kansas City and Gotham’s turnover thus far in the 2025-26 offseason is well within the historical bounds to say that they’d continue to challenge for hardware in the upcoming season.