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Natalie Portman Confirms Official Name of NWSL Franchise Angel City FC

By Matt O'Connor-Simpson

Natalie Portman is one of the key shareholders in Angel City FC
Natalie Portman is one of the key shareholders in Angel City FC / Rich Fury/Getty Images
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More information has been released about Angel City FC, the Natalie Portman-backed football team set to compete in the NWSL from 2022.

Plans for the new club were first outlined in May 2020 with the Los Angeles-based franchise set to become the first NWSL organisation with majority female ownership.

The team was founded by a star-studded group which includes Hollywood actors Portman, Eva Longoria, Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Garner, as well as legendary ex-USWNT star Mia Hamm.

Speaking on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon, Portman revealed the official name of the new franchise, confirming: "we are bringing Angel City FC, the women's soccer team for Los Angeles, to LA, in 2022 and we are super excited to celebrate these incredible athletes.

"It's the first female-led, [with] female investors in, I think, any professioanl sport."

Many more famous faces from the world of sport and showbiz have also pledged their financial support to Angel City. Among the investors are WNBA player Candace Parker, former United States international Cobi Jones and talk show host James Corden.

The club are keen to make an impact off the field as well as on it, announcing that any of its sponsors will have to donate 10% of the value of their deal to local causes.

Another one of Angel City's investors, tennis legend Billie Jean King, reiterated this message in a recent interview.

"We need everyone to invest in women’s sports and Ilana and I are proud to stand with the Angel City FC ownership group and help make history in Southern California," King told the LA Times.

"Angel City’s mission to make an impact on and off the field and to provide an opportunity to some of the best professional female athletes in the world to play on a stage as powerful as Los Angeles sends a strong message to young girls in the community and beyond."

The NWSL currently has nine team with plans to add a franchise in Louisville, Kentucky next season. Sacramento is also in line to receive a team in the next two years, while Angel City are set to become the 12th side to join in 2022.