Filipa Patão might be new to Boston, but she’s ready to build a legacy.
Patão will be the first head coach of Boston Legacy FC, the city’s first professional women’s football team since the Boston Breakers folded in 2018. The Legacy will join the NWSL as one of two new expansion teams at the start of 2026.
“I know that I have the opportunity to help, to build something different, something great, and create a legacy,” said Patão in her first press conference with the team.
Patão formerly coached at Benfica
in Portugal, where she led the club to five straight league titles in the Campeonato Nacional Feminino and reached the quarterfinals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. She is excited about coaching in the NWSL, where the league’s constant competitiveness will provide a new challenge.
“At Benfica, I start[ed] to be a little bit comfortable, because we won everything…” said Patão. “I thought that my mission was done in Benfica.”
Domé Gausch, the Legacy’s General Manager, said that the club went through a six month hiring process where they looked at over 60 candidates before deciding on Patão. “We were happy that the best coach that we could find also wanted to come here,” said Gausch.
What is it about Boston that drew in Patão?
“The identity of Boston is very similar with my identity,” said Patão. “I felt that the club has the same values, the same goals that I have.”
As she started to explore Boston, she began to appreciate city’s vibrant sports culture. “It’s an incredible honor to join this club and step into a city with such a rich tradition of sports,” she said.
One of her strongest memories of her first few days in Boston is trying a lobster roll for the first time, one of Boston’s signature foods. “I’ve never eaten something like this, with bread and lobster!” she said. She values being open to new experiences, in a culinary sense and beyond.
With the Legacy, she will have the chance to build the club’s culture and playing style from the ground up, a unique and exciting opportunity as the club’s very first head coach.
She wants fans to remember her as a coach who delivered good football, won titles, and brought the joy of football to supporters. Although she anticipates challenges, she’s ready to give the job everything she has to accomplish this.
“I’m here to make history,” said Patão. “I know that this is hard. I know that this is difficult.”
Gausch and Patão have already started working together to recruit and sign players. The seven players who have signed contracts already—Emerson Elgin, Aïssata Traoré, Laurel Ansbrow, Alba Caño, Annie Karich, Aleigh Gambone, and Barbara Olivieri—are all currently on loan with other clubs until the Legacy start playing in the spring.
“I know the responsibility to have a new project in my hands, in our hands,” said Patão. “But I know that everybody here is capable to do this job.”
When the Legacy kick off their first season in the spring, Patão is ready to show the league and the city that professional women’s soccer in Boston is back for good.
