> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Reign FC Notebook: Barnes Speaks on Retirement, Seattle Receives Seven Call-Ups - URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/lauren-barnes-jess-fishlock-retirement-seattle-reign-national-team-call-ups/ - Published: 2025-10-16T23:36:48.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-08T05:57:39.000Z - Author: Qasim Ali - Tags: News, Features, Reign, Lauren Barnes, Jess Fishlock, Laura Harvey, Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic, Claudia Dickey, Sam Meza, Jordyn Bugg, Maddie Dahlien, Emeri Adames \[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1825"\] ![ Seattle Reign midfielder Jess Fishlock celebrates her goal during a NWSL match against Bay FC on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025 at Lumen Field in Seattle, Wash. (Maddy Grassy / Reign FC Communications) ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/credit-2bseattle-2breign-2bfc-maddy-2bgrassy_6-format-original-1.png) Seattle Reign midfielder Jess Fishlock celebrates her goal during a NWSL match against Bay FC on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025 at Lumen Field in Seattle, Wash. (Maddy Grassy / Reign FC Communications) \[/caption\] There's plenty to play for in the waning moments of the 2025 season for the Seattle Reign. For one, they haven't clinched a playoff spot yet at 9-7-8 with two matches remaining and a fifth seed to their name — they'll get a chance to clinch the postseason with a win or draw on Friday night against the visiting Utah Royals (5-12-7). Off the pitch, however, the Reign have made headlines. The team's veteran leadership of Lauren Barnes and Jess Fishlock each made retirement announcements, as Barnes will retire from soccer completely at the end of the season while Fishlock will play her last national team game for Wales on Oct. 22\. Speaking of national team play, six other players were called up for next week's international break as this has been one of the busier weeks in the Emerald City this season. ### Barnes Reflects on Her Record-Breaking Career Barnes sat down with media on Tuesday afternoon to discuss her decision to step away from soccer after 13 seasons and a record 250 matches in an emotional 30-minute press conference. Barnes confirmed that this was a decision she made early in the season, but waited until now to divulge it, as she had plenty of figures within the organization make a case for her to stay. > Celebrating the iconic career of Lu Barnes 🌟 > > Take a look at her incredible 13-year career with the Reign, by the numbers. > > Read ➡️ [https://t.co/7OZBAiq7vd](https://t.co/7OZBAiq7vd?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) [pic.twitter.com/NuhiCEM1v7](https://t.co/NuhiCEM1v7?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com)— Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc) [October 16, 2025](https://twitter.com/reignfc/status/1978929665747411301?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) "Your career eventually comes to an end and it just felt right for me, Barnes said, “I think the club's in a really good place … we've invested in the youth and seeing them come in and really turn this club into something else, I think, for me, that's exactly what I wanted to see and where I wanted to leave it.” She spoke about the early days of the NWSL, in which Laura Harvey had to sell the then UC Riverside assistant coach on the idea of trying to play pro soccer again after she was a part of the quickly folded WPS. Once she was convinced the NWSL could be the league of the future, the Reign drafted her 10th overall in the supplemental draft and Harvey moved Barnes to centerback, her true position, for the league’s inaugural season. It was a solid pairing right away, as Barnes, a California native, would start in all but three of the games she played in for her first six seasons with Seattle. In her second and third seasons, Seattle went 29-5-10 combined en route to two NWSL Shields alongside early club legends like leading scorer Kim Little, Megan Rapinoe and Fishlock. Little would return to Arsenal shortly after the initial two shields and Rapinoe would step away from the game after a championship game loss in 2023 and a third shield in 2022\. While Rapinoe, a USWNT legend, is the most recognizable and acclaimed player in franchise history, seeing Barnes go takes on a different level of ceremony for Harvey. "I think everyone will (want to win this year) for Lu, definitely. I think in some ways even more so than (Rapinoe) … (Rapinoe's) legacy of her career was a little bit about the Reign, but a lot about the things that she did," Harvey said. "With Lu, even more so, this chapter of her life and her career has been phenomenal for her, so yeah, I think we all want to send her out the right way." Of course, Barnes never got the national team call-ups of some of her peers and her career trajectory was instead about building a culture that would last far beyond her in Seattle. Barnes' teammates, like fellow defender Phoebe McClernon, explained that her jovial nature and “unserious” attitude helped with the pressures of playing a professional sport. For Barnes, it comes naturally. "If you can be goofy and then switch on (for the game) and be you … you're in the right place," Barnes said. But the day a now-36-year-old Barnes knew was inevitable is here. She never shied away from the idea of being played out of her position in the backline, and with a wealth of younger talent like Jordyn Bugg, Madison Curry, Shae Holmes and Phoebe McClernon, Barnes has been a substitute primarily lately — she’s played just seven minutes in her past two matches. Barnes has come off the bench eight times in the past two seasons, far exceeding the four times she had in her first 11 seasons. "I've been waiting for it," Barnes said. "It's just been such a fun collaboration to work with them all, and it's been so much fun for me to see the growth where it's like … I'm being beaten out of my position, and that's what you want." Now with the experience of having seen a league fold in the WPS, and a league like the NWSL expand from eight teams to 14 in her 13-year career, Barnes has a message for proponents of women's soccer: Invest. "How fast women's soccer has grown, especially in the last three to five years, has been really incredible to see," Barnes said. "What I've seen with the new ownership (Sounders FC and The Carlyle Group since June 2024) is investment is so important, and I think that's what has really helped women's soccer take off, is the genuine and legit investments going back into us." The minimum NWSL salary in 2026 is slated to rise to over $50,000 and over $80,000 by 2030 according to the collective bargaining agreement, a far cry from those early days. Barnes recalled having to work multiple jobs to make ends meet while playing in 2013, so the idea of the NWSL cutting players a decent check for their services has been exciting. "Just seeing that these players now can just go focus on football and not have to worry about anything else is the overall goal that I've always wanted to see in football," Barnes said. "It's getting close." For now, the team will have a chance to send their icon out with a bang. Seattle can clinch a playoff spot with any result in their final home game against Utah on Friday night, as the team is set to honor Barnes at that fixture. If Seattle can overtake Gotham, which they are tied with in points right now, for the fourth seed, the Reign can give Barnes another chance to play in front of the Seattle faithful before the curtain closes on the league's longest career. After that curtain closes, the 2016 Defender of the Year and two-time Best XI First-Team selection stated that she would like to continue to be involved with the Reign. While she's unsure about her next steps at the moment, Barnes' knowledge of the game is undeniable, and it's not the farthest logical leap to say she may try her hand at coaching yet again. ### Seven Reign Players Get Senior National Team Nods, Including a Retiring Fishlock If you measure the quality of a soccer team by the number of national team call-ups they have, you can miss gems like Barnes. But make no mistake, the Reign are churning out international talent all over the field this season. The U.S. Women’s National Team has called up three young talents in midfielder Sam Meza, defender Jordyn Bugg and keeper Claudia Dickey ahead of three friendlies on Oct. 23, Oct. 26 and Oct. 29\. The team will take on Portugal twice in Pennsylvania and Connecticut before heading down to Missouri to face New Zealand. Other Americans representing the U-23 squad for Seattle will include reserve keeper Neeku Purcell, defender Emily Mason, and forwards Maddie Dahlien and Emeri Adames. While the U-23 team won't play any games, they will practice with the senior USWNT, providing a chance for young Reign talent to earn a pathway toward national team caps down the road. Keep in mind, this is a coordinated international window, so the Reign shouldn't be missing any players for their Nov. 1 regular-season finale in Orlando. Ana-Maria Crnogorčević, who recently returned from injury, was called up to represent Switzerland as well on Oct. 24 and Oct. 28 against Canada and Scotland. But for Fishlock, her call-up to represent a Wales team she's given her heart to for the past 22 years means more than just a friendly. The game against Australia on Oct. 22 in her hometown of Cardiff alongside Reign teammate Angharad James-Turner will be the 38-year-old's final international appearance, as she announced on Wednesday. It means the conclusion of a career that has featured a Wales record 48 senior-team goals over the past 19 years in 165 caps. > A lot of appreciation for [@jessfishlock](https://twitter.com/JessFishlock?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com). 🥺🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 > > Be at Jess’ final Cymru game 👉 [https://t.co/hsH0UFCPVt](https://t.co/hsH0UFCPVt?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) [pic.twitter.com/l3teoETyQs](https://t.co/l3teoETyQs?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com)— Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@Cymru) [October 15, 2025](https://twitter.com/Cymru/status/1978548425386828074?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) "It's not the goals, it's not the wins, it's watching our nation grow behind us. And I got to see that how I'd always dreamed of at the Euros," Fishlock said on Thursday. At the Euros earlier this year, Wales went 0-3-0, but it was the country's first appearance at a major women's tournament. Fishlock managed nine goal contributions in the qualifying run for the tournament, as the veteran made sure to go out with a bang. In terms of her status as a member of the Reign, with whom she's scored a team-high six goals this season, Fishlock hopes to keep it going just a little longer. "My hope is to continue to play one more year," Fishlock said.