{"id":9449,"date":"2026-05-17T00:38:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T00:38:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=9449"},"modified":"2026-05-17T00:38:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T00:38:04","slug":"sam-kerr-shoots-down-rumour-about-moving-to-american-team-before-equalling-a-record-in-fairytale-farewell-at-chelsea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=9449","title":{"rendered":"Sam Kerr shoots down rumour about moving to American team before equalling a record in fairytale farewell at Chelsea"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Sam Kerr has put a glorious seal on her matchless Chelsea career, scoring a virtuoso winning goal against Manchester United in her final match to leave as the club&#8217;s joint all-time top scorer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">On an emotional day at Stamford Bridge \u2013 which had become &#8216;Samford Bridge&#8217; for one final Saturday \u2013 the Matildas skipper hammered home a fabulous volley in the 34th minute, her 116th goal for the club, to match the all-time record of her former strike partner Fran Kirby.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">She could even have broken the record, blazing one over in the 89th minute of Chelsea&#8217;s 1-0 win, before coming off to a standing ovation all around the ground in stoppage time \u2013 even from United fans and players \u2013 as everyone saluted her 158th and final match for the Blues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">It was a fitting end to the 32-year-old&#8217;s stellar six-and-a-half-year career for the London giants, having won five Women&#8217;s Super League titles, three FA Cups and three League Cups, as well as twice being crowned golden boot winner as the WSL top scorer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Her English teammate Millie Bright, a 20-trophy veteran with Chelsea, was marking her farewell too, with the pair being given a guard of honour.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Reports have linked Kerr to a return to the United States following her time in west London, a move which would bring her recently-retired wife Kristie Mewis back to her homeland, alongside their son Jagger.<\/p>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"style\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-3217f9b0bd747c24\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/05\/16\/23\/108662899-15824397-Sam_Kerr_brought_her_baby_boy_Jagger_onto_the_field_as_she_had_a-m-3_1778971714766.jpg\" height=\"715\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Sam Kerr brought her baby boy Jagger onto the field as she had a fairytale farewell in her last game with Chelsea (pictured)\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Sam Kerr brought her baby boy Jagger onto the field as she had a fairytale farewell in her last game with Chelsea (pictured)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"style\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-2cf5979afb206f37\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/05\/16\/23\/108662941-15824397-image-a-2_1778971699154.jpg\" height=\"951\" width=\"634\" alt=\"The Aussie superstar scored her 116th goal for the club in a 1-0 win over Manchester United\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">The Aussie superstar scored her 116th goal for the club in a 1-0 win over Manchester United<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"style\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-5a902541d846f27d\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/05\/16\/23\/108662907-15824397-image-a-4_1778971856076.jpg\" height=\"951\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Kerr kissed the badge on her shirt as she bowed out after winning\u00a0five Women's Super League titles, three FA Cups and three League Cups with the Blues\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Kerr kissed the badge on her shirt as she bowed out after winning\u00a0five Women&#8217;s Super League titles, three FA Cups and three League Cups with the Blues<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The pair were watching in the stands on Saturday as Chelsea finished third in the women\u2019s top-flight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">It was reported last month that Kerr had agreed a move to NWSL franchise Denver Summit, although the striker denied this link. <\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;It was an amazing day, kind of fitting to play against Man United, a team I&#8217;ve scored so many of my favourite goals against, and to score one like that today was awesome,&#8217; said Kerr, who&#8217;s expected to announce she&#8217;ll be continuing her career in the NWSL in the US.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;It&#8217;s also fitting I end level with Fran after we played some pretty good football together. But I mean, every goal to me for this club is special, I enjoyed every minute today.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;It&#8217;s just, honestly, the biggest honour to play for this club, and I have so many amazing memories which I&#8217;ll carry with me forever.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">She appeared with her one-year-old son Jagger in front of the cheering fans. <\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;He&#8217;s born in Chelsea, so it&#8217;s kind of cute, and a nice little finish, but it was special to walk out with him and have my family here. A really sad day, but happy day, I guess,&#8217; she smiled.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;It&#8217;s going to be hard to leave, but I&#8217;ve only good things to say about the club and the people here.&#8217;<\/p>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"style\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-81544a55a1d7c552\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/05\/16\/23\/108662909-15824397-image-a-5_1778972160689.jpg\" height=\"951\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Kerr (pictured celebrating after her goal) has been linked to a return to playing in the United States, where her wife Kristie Mewis hails from\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Kerr (pictured celebrating after her goal) has been linked to a return to playing in the United States, where her wife Kristie Mewis hails from<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\" style=\"style\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"> <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-c42592383842e9f6\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/05\/16\/23\/108662897-15824397-image-a-6_1778972249506.jpg\" height=\"951\" width=\"634\" alt=\"The 32-year-old (pictured with Jagger at her farewell match) shot down a rumour that she is off to play in Denver, Colorado\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">The 32-year-old (pictured with Jagger at her farewell match) shot down a rumour that she is off to play in Denver, Colorado<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Kerr then took the mike to address the fans. &#8216;Thank you to everyone who I&#8217;ve played with since I&#8217;ve been representing you guys,&#8217; she told them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;Week in, week out, every single minute for you guys. I&#8217;ve had some great personal memories both on and off the pitch, so thank you to all of you. Hopefully, you support me wherever I go.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Her send-off present to them, that instinctive and deadly first-time goal lashed in at the near post from a Lauren James cross, was enough to earn the victory that ensured Chelsea finished third in the table and sealed a place in the Champions League qualifiers next season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">But the deposed champions finished behind Arsenal, who sealed second place with their 3-1 win at Liverpool, and champions Manchester City, who won 4-1 at West Ham, for whom another favourite Matilda, Katrina Gorry, played her final game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The third-place finish also means that they are demoted to the qualifiers for next season\u2019s Champions League, with only champions Manchester City and Arsenal enjoying a direct route through to the competition proper after clinching the pair of automatic qualifying spots.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;Obviously, there&#8217;s a little bit of sadness,&#8217; Kerr said when announcing her departure from the London side.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;It&#8217;s leaving Chelsea, leaving the club where I&#8217;ve been for so long, leaving my teammates, leaving the fans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;But when I reflect on my Chelsea career and doing it for the last time, I just feel happy. Happy that it happened, and I feel so grateful to have played for this club for six years and won as many trophies as we could.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;The only thing that comes to my mind is remembering all the happy moments, the fun moments, and just feeling really proud.&#8217;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sam Kerr has put a glorious seal on her matchless Chelsea career, scoring a virtuoso&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}