Box State Footy Newsletter
June 2nd, 2025
Happy June! Despite the constant downpour in Denver these recent days, it’s summertime! The Box State Footy newsletter is here to give you all the relevant news and information from this past week. Be sure to subscribe so you never miss what’s happening around the Box State when it comes to Footy!
Topics:
Rapids Roundup
NWSL Denver Front Office Update
Box State Player of the Week
Content Schedule
Rapids Roundup:
Colorado had a Wednesday to forget. With no weekend match, the Rapids had every reason to go into Providence Park on the road and push hard for a win. An exhilarating first half featured everything you could want on the road: a Djordje Mihailovic golazo, a penalty save from backup keeper Nico Hansen, and for the third game in a row: no goals conceded in the last five minutes of the first half! The Rapids went into the second half with a lead, confidence, and plenty of energy but ended up finishing the game with 10 men and a ruthless loss.
Burgundy Banter featured Jeremy Peterman of Cascadia FC to recap the match. He has a much more eloquent and bitter-tasting recap of the second half. As a Timbers reporter, he was sure to lean in. If you don’t catch this episode, the meat and potatoes of the pod was Judge Jim and my general sourness about the roster construction. Year over year it tends to be the biggest thing I point to beyond any of my reactionary takes. The Rapids next match will be against Austin FC on June 7th. With just two MLS games on the slate, a lesser workload for me means Box State Footy will be on site filming content and getting a fan perspective on all things Rapids. Be on the lookout for me at the C38 tailgate-you could be featured!
NWSL Denver’s Complicated Front Office Hire
Curt Johnson has been hired as NWSL Denver’s newest General Manager. Johnson had previously been with the North Carolina Courage where he oversaw not just the Courage’s operations but all of the North Carolina Football Club soccer ops, including the men’s side.
Following the findings in the Yates Report, NWSL mandated that teams maintain separate sporting groups for clubs who operate both a men’s side and women’s side. Not only as a way to improve the general sporting culture of the women’s game but to also curb the systemic ways that led to the rampant abuse and sexual misconduct within US Soccer.
Since then, Johnson had been in full control of the women’s side achieving some successful seasons. He won three league titles and two Supporters Shields whilst at NCFC.
The hire looks great on paper. Denver gets a proven and domestic GM who has a clear history of talent identification and winning soccer. Dig in a bit more and you’ll find some of the ugly. Johnson’s name is mentioned in the Yates Report for quotes that have aged horrifically.
How it started: “We could not be more excited to bring Paul back as head coach of the Courage for many years to come”
This is in reference to Paul Riley, the former NWSL head coach who was banned from the league amidst sexual misconduct and harassment accusations who was first hired by Johnson. Initial reports about Riley’s misconduct at the Portland Thorns was overlooked as “poor judgement”.
We may never know if Johnson’s hire of Riley was nefariously intended or if this was a casualty of the shit front office culture of the league. NWSL Denver Owner Rob Cohen seems to be behind him and believes that Johnson will have the players safety ahead of anything else. For a team trying to break in the Denver soccer market, they’re pouring a lot into this project and hitting it out of the park. It’s the details that matter here and while I don’t think Johnson is going to bring about a toxic sporting environment, this is something that is going to follow him and something to keep in mind when measuring hype.
ADDITIONAL READING: NWSL Denver hires Curt Johnson as GM following time with North Carolina Courage
There’s plenty more NWSL Denver news to dig in to but I am only one man. If you’re interested in covering NWSL Denver for Box State Footy, feel free to reach out!
Box State Footy Player of the Week:
Lindsey Heaps was a starter in the USWNT’s 3-0 friendly win against China over the weekend. The Golden born midfielder had a very productive 77 minutes. Heaps scored a fantastic header sparked by her brilliant midfield run to seal the third goal for the home team playing at an electric Allianz Field.
Content Schedule
June is about to be an absolute blast of content coming your way. The lesser amount of MLS games opens me up to a variety of content pipelines.
Burgundy Banter this week will feature Dave Wegner of Centennial 38. Feel free to send in any relevant questions about C38, the Oar Foundation, and any relevant Rapids question given Dave’s wealth of knowledge on the subject.
Outside the Box returns this week for a full roundup of your MLS team and their performance coming out of Matchday 17.
The next Substack feature will be an xEye Test and the player of focus is none other than Theodore Ku-DiPietro. Is he really as good as he seems to be? The column will try to find not only an answer but a larger projection about rising status in the XI.
I’ll be on site at the Rapids game this weekend ! As mentioned earlier, I’m going to be at DSGP. Feel free to come by around the tailgate and get involved in some trivia, fan perspective, or just about anything else you’d want to talk about!
Thanks for reading! If you have a story or want to reach out about content, feel free to DM us on whatever platform you see fit! For the quickest reply, be sure to email us boxstatefooty@gmail.com
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