Photo by Georgia Soares

When Sophie Goodfellow brought up soccer on a first date, Carolina Nuñez lit up immediately. In that moment, Nuñez knew she would be down bad for this woman.

They talked about their shared love of Gotham FC, and as their relationship unfolded from across the country – Nuñez in Portland, Ore. and Goodfellow in Pennsylvania – the NWSL became a way for them to bridge the nearly 3,000 miles until Nuñez moved back to the East Coast.

“Soccer was something that we would do to stay connected,” Goodfellow said. “When she would go to Portland Thorns games, she would video call me in, and I would see all the excitement. The times that she visited Pennsylvania, we prioritized going to Gotham games together.”

There was really only one place Nuñez considered when she was planning on proposing. She knew it had to be at a Gotham game. What unfolded was a moment that neither would forget and that made it so clear why it was their place.

On the field last October, in front of their community, Nuñez knelt down in front of Goodfellow and asked her to marry her.

“It makes me emotional,” Nuñez said. “It was something I dreamt about, but it was bigger than that. I will never forget it. I was like, ‘This is my time. I love this woman so much, and it’s the best way I can do it for her.’”

To be clear, Goodfellow and Nuñez love soccer. They love Gotham, and they love the players. They even have matching Gotham tattoos above their elbows.

But it goes far beyond what happens on the pitch. For them, and so many other queer fans, Gotham means safety and community.

“Gotham games are where I think we feel the safest to just totally be ourselves,” Goodfellow said. “We love the team, but you don’t have to worry about holding each other’s hands. You don’t have to worry about being true to who you are.”

Nuñez, who moved to the United States from Panama when she was a teenager, echoed this idea. Growing up queer and without much family in the U.S., the community Nuñez found, like the one at Gotham games, made all the difference.

“It just made me want to stay open to who I am and show the world you just have to be yourself, be happy, and then you’re always going to find people that will support you no matter what,” she said.

The couple saw that firsthand thanks to the proposal. When Nuñez reached out to Gotham with the idea, she was met with immediate enthusiasm from Yvonne Boulay, a member of Gotham’s fan experience team. They hatched a plan that included VIP access and a moment bigger than Nuñez could have dreamed of.

After Goodfellow put on her new ring, after Nuñez stood up, and after their tears dried, they were met by nothing but love in the stands.

“People went crazy at that moment. People in the stadium were screaming and just happy for us,” Nuñez said. “That was one of the best sensations to have when people celebrate your happiness. They just like to see people that are in love.”

For their friends and families, seeing this moment and the reaction made everything click.

“Our family knew we loved the team. My dad had been to a game with us. Our brothers had gone, but that moment, meeting Yvonne, meeting a lot of the Gotham team, feeling the love and energy after our engagement, my mom especially looked at us and was like, ‘We understand now why Gotham is so important to you,’” Goodfellow said.

Having that moment of recognition from their families was important to both Goodfellow and Nuñez. It was a merging of their villages.

“Gotham fans are almost a found family in a way,” Goodfellow said. “That joy is revolutionary, so in a sense, Gotham is revolutionary.”

This is by design. The Gotham team responsible for community outreach and social impact pride themselves on creating an inclusive, welcoming, and vibrant environment for every game – not just their annual Pride matches.

Corinne Counsell and Emma Walley are a two-person team dedicated to connecting Gotham and fans to charitable causes and community leaders. When it comes to Pride, they don’t take for granted the way Gotham brings people together.

“Gotham didn't make women's sports a queer friendly place,” Walley said. “But Gotham helps to continue to make sure that it is a queer friendly place.”

The upcoming Pride match on June 7 includes community impact – like a partnership with Brooklyn Community Pride Center and helping the Cloud 9 supporters’ group annual Prideraiser – but it’s also a joyful celebration of the queer community. There’s a drag brunch, a pregame parade, and a celebrated drag queen (and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” contestant) Jan Sport will sing the national anthem.

During Pride, it’s easy for corporations and organizations to take part in the party with little to no commitment to advocacy, but Gotham – and other teams across the NWSL – are refusing to tiptoe away and are walking the walk when it comes to the causes that matter to their players and supporters.

“I think that there is no hiding or no shying away from what Gotham is,” Walley said. “Sport has such an incredible ability to promote positive values, create change, and advocate for people. It’s the language that everyone speaks. You put a soccer ball in front of someone’s feet and they understand.”

As the front office team continues to expand Gotham’s reach, the hope is that the club will always be synonymous with solidarity with the queer community.

“You see someone out in the wild wearing a Gotham hat or shirt, and you're, like, ‘That's an ally, that's a friend,’" Counsell said.

Goodfellow echoed that sentiment.

“It's a place where we can bring our community together, but it's a place where you just see so much joy in other people, too,” she said. “It feels so good to be around in a world that feels dark sometimes, to just be in a place where everyone feels that they can be joyful and be themselves.”

For Goodfellow and Nuñez, some of that joy culminated in a small, intimate wedding in December. In front of their family and friends – including Boulay, the Gotham employee who arranged the proposal – the couple made a commitment to each other.

When Gotham hosts the Current on June 7 for the annual Pride match, Goodfellow and Nuñez will certainly be there, cheering on their team alongside their chosen family in the place that brings out the best in them.

How can you not be romantic about soccer?