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By: Angelique Fiske
Long may Lu Reign: Seattle's Lauren Barnes announces retirement 

An NWSL Original is taking her final bow at the end of the 2025 season.

Just days after making her league record-breaking 250th regular season appearance, Seattle’s Lauren Barnes, better known as Lu, announced she would be retiring at the end of the season.

The 2016 NWSL Defender of the Year, a two-time NWSL Shield winner, a three-time NWSL Championship runner-up, and Seattle captain since 2022, Barnes is as much a part of the club’s fabric as the city itself.

In a video posted to the Reign’s social media, Barnes reflected back on her journey.

“It is storybook,” she said. “I feel like I could not have imagined anything like this.”

Barnes will retire after playing for one club her entire NWSL career. Barnes made her 250th appearance in Week 24, meaning she has played in all but 26 of Seattle’s regular season games. Ever.

Of those 250, Barnes played a full 90 minutes in 202 games, more than any other field player.

It’s hard to talk about the evolution of the NWSL without mentioning Barnes. She holds so many “firsts” in the league — first player to reach 150, 200, and 250 regular-season appearances, first player to reach 10,000 and 20,000 regular-season minutes played, and first player to win 100 regular season games.

The only other NWSL OG who has played all 13 years with the same club happens to be Barnes’s teammate Jess Fishlock.

After the match against Bay FC, Fishlock was asked about Barnes.

“Lu has been, in my eyes, underrated by almost everybody in the world. In my eyes, she’s been one of the best players for the last decade, always the first name on my team sheet,” Fishlock said.

Even though the game was well over, Barnes was still on the pitch doing sprints with a smile on her face.

“That’s just Lu,” Fishlock said. “That’s just who she is … She always wants to help. She always wants to support. I think her play over the last 12 years has spoken for itself. She’s just an incredible human being.”

Long may Lu Reign.

Seattle will celebrate Barnes’s career and legacy at the match against the Utah Royals on Friday, October 17. You can watch the game at 10 p.m. ET on NWSL+.

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