Denise O'Sullivan is smiling again, and it shows. The Republic of Ireland midfielder signed with Gotham FC in July, then spent four of the next six weeks recovering from a knee injury before finally getting her first start against Denver Summit on September 6.
"It's good to be back," the 32-year-old says of returning to the pitch, and to the NWSL, where she insists she is happiest.
O'Sullivan's path back to the States came after nearly a decade at North Carolina Courage was followed by a brief switch to England, where she spent the second half of last season with Liverpool in the Women's Super League. That move, she says, never quite felt right.
A Difficult Spell In England
O'Sullivan joined Liverpool for a reported club-record fee in the region of £350,000 (close to $464,000 at the current rate), looking for a new challenge and a shorter trip home to Cork, where her family is based. She scored two goals in 13 appearances across all competitions, helped Liverpool avoid relegation by finishing 11th in the 12-team WSL, and reached the FA Cup semifinals. But she couldn't settle.
"I was just not feeling myself, and very down," she says. "I knew I had to be decisive, to go in and speak to the sporting director (Andy O'Boyle), because I'm 32. I don't have a long time in my career left."
"I just knew I wanted to go back to America," she adds. "It was the lifestyle. The culture (in England) was a big shock, a big difference. The USA is where I'm happiest."
Settling In With Gotham
Gotham agreed an initial one-year loan from Liverpool with an obligation for a permanent transfer, and O'Sullivan says the move quickly felt like the right fit. She was struck by president of soccer operations Yael Averbuch West's vision for the club, and by head coach Juan Carlos Amorós explaining how her leadership would fit into the side.
It helped, too, that Sean Nahas, one of her longtime coaches from her Courage days, is now at Gotham as well. "Sean means a lot to me ... he was my head coach, and made me captain," she says. "Having someone here who you know believes in you that much, and that can continue to push you, was a massive factor."
Since her Gotham debut on July 18 against Seattle Reign at Icahn Stadium, O'Sullivan has drawn some notable support. Fellow Cork native Roy Keane, in New York for the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium the following day, watched from the stands. When she returned from injury against Portland Thorns, Ireland head coach Carla Ward was there too.
"I'm not surprised, because that's how Irish people are -- we look after our own," O'Sullivan says. "Roy is someone I've looked up to from a very young age. I wanted to play like him."
She has now made 232 minutes across six matches for Gotham, earning her second start at the weekend in a return trip to face her old club, North Carolina Courage, in Cary.
Chasing A Cap Record And More Silverware
With 132 caps since her 2011 debut, O'Sullivan is closing in on the Republic of Ireland's all-time appearance record of 134, held by former goalkeeper and captain Emma Byrne. She could reach the milestone in Cork next month if she is called up for a World Cup qualification playoff semifinal against Kazakhstan, with Ireland hoping to reach a second consecutive World Cup after their historic 2023 debut.
"Putting on the green shirt means so much. It's the best thing I can do in my career," she says. "Going to another World Cup, where I can fully embrace it, would be special."
At North Carolina, O'Sullivan became the club's all-time leader in regular-season appearances with 155, and helped the Courage win back-to-back NWSL championships in 2018 and 2019, along with three straight Shields from 2017 to 2019. That Shield is now firmly in Gotham's sights: the club sits top of the NWSL with 51 points from a 15-4-6 record, five points clear of the Washington Spirit with five regular-season games left, and has already secured a playoff spot.
Averbuch West is clear about what O'Sullivan brings beyond the numbers. "Denise is the epitome of a leader," she says. "She has brought a level of experience and leadership to our group that I appreciate. She's attentive to her standards and collective standards of the group in a way that we haven't even started to scratch the surface (of yet)."
Teammate Taryn Torres, who has watched O'Sullivan since entering the league in 2021, echoes that admiration. "She's a player that I would always try to play like," Torres says. "A midfielder that's technical. She's always taking her looks, trying to go forward ... I try to play like her and now, to play with her, is cool."
O'Sullivan describes herself as "very intense" when it comes to her career and says being a role model for younger players matters to her, recalling how figures like Emma Byrne and Yvonne Tracy filled that role for her growing up in Cork. "They're coming into a league now (the NWSL) that's very, very different," she says of the current generation. "A lot of visibility, a lot of facilities, and the standards are really high. I think they need to be protected in some sense -- that's my job."
With five matches left before the playoffs, starting at home against last-placed Chicago Stars, O'Sullivan is looking well beyond just settling in. "I do feel settled, but I want to become more comfortable around the team," she says. "But long-term -- I want to win. I want to win trophies -- the shield and championship."
