WASHINGTON — As Gotham FC and the Washington Spirit sought to get on the board during the NWSL Championship on Nov. 22, both teams’ respective supporters’ groups faced one another from opposite sides of PayPal Park.
But when the clock hit 51:00, the stadium united in a minute-long chant that has become a tradition among Spirit fans: “Free D.C.,” the district’s rallying cry for statehood.
It was a scene reminiscent of the Spirit’s Audi Field in Washington, affectionately dubbed “Rowdy Audi.” Fans in Sections 136 and 137 — the stomping grounds of the Spirit Squadron, the team’s independent supporters’ group — have led “Free D.C” chants at every match since mid-August.
Unlike most other Squadron chants, “Free D.C.” isn’t a play on a song. It’s not listed as an official chant on the group’s website. It’s a political message that has gained strength as residents grapple with the deployment of the National Guard on their streets, which came to a head late November when two National Guardsmen were shot blocks away from the White House.
Support for D.C. home rule extends league-wide. Fans of other teams, including Gotham, initiated the chant in the 51st minute (beginning when the clock hits 51:00, in traditional soccer timing the 52nd minute) when their teams hosted the Spirit during the regular season.
Several players are also aware.
“We always know it’s coming in the 51st minute, and so we back our fans and are happy to support them in their fight,” Spirit captain and goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury said.
The Spirit ultimately lost the championship to Gotham 1-0 and now face a slew of roster uncertainties in the offseason. But although the season has ended, the chant isn’t going away.
During a match against Racing Louisville FC on Aug. 15, Squadron president Meredith Bartley thought up the chant and its timing to represent Washington, D.C., as the 51st state.
Bartley stands in front of the supporters’ section and conducts an orchestra of about 1,500 fans every match. With a megaphone in hand to initiate chants, she’s often among the loudest voices in Section 137.
Once she got “Free D.C.” going for the first time, she just stopped and listened.
“It was one of the loudest things I’ve ever heard,” Bartley said.
A Spirit representative said in a statement that every match is “a welcoming space for all to come be themselves and represent what they believe in and who they are.” Players like Kingsbury and Spirit defender Paige Metayer echoed that sentiment.
“We’re in the unique situation where we get to be a voice for our city,” Metayer said.
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‘Kindred spirits’
Calls for Washington home rule date back to the 1960s. The official Free D.C. project began in 2023 as a response to Congress overturning the district’s revised Criminal Code Act. In addition to rallying at events like the No Kings protest, thousands of volunteers participate in monthly ward meetings and frequent non-cooperation training.
During a league-wide July break, Free D.C. volunteers Shauna Gordon-McKeon and Slobodan Milic hatched the idea of starting the “Free Spirits,” a group of Spirit fans within Free D.C.
Milic, a Serbia native, said the Trump administration gave him “deja vu.” Before moving to Washington three years ago, he lived in the Middle East and in African countries, including Morocco, while working for the U.S.-based National Democratic Institute.
He said the elaborate chants he heard in Moroccan soccer stadiums touched on political topics that would get individuals arrested for mentioning.
“Soccer stadiums are the last refuge,” he said. “That’s where you go to hear the truth.”
When Bartley raised the idea of chanting “Free D.C.” before the Racing Louisville match in August, Milic thought only the supporters’ sections would participate. His wife, watching on television, later told him she could hear the words on the broadcast.
Squadron member Kris Ramos, who leads chants with Bartley, said he wasn’t surprised this particular chant “spread like wildfire” through the stadium. It was easy to learn, he said. And it let fans shout.
“People in the city right now just need a release, just need escapism as well as a space to feel seen,” Ramos said. “It’s easy to feel helpless with everything that’s going on.”
For season ticket holder Jessica Weliwitigoda, the words go beyond an ordinary chant.
“You can feel a collective feeling of empowerment,” she said. “Of being around kindred spirits.”
‘Larger than soccer’
Supporters’ groups across the country took notice of what unfolded in the 51st minute of the Washington-Louisville match.
One week into its existence, the “Free D.C.” chant could be heard at San Francisco’s Oracle Park during the Spirit’s match against Bay FC.
A few weeks after that, when the Spirit travelled to face the Kansas City Current, the supporters’ group KC Blue Crew was ready to yell the same two words.
And days before returning to face her former team in Washington on Sept. 28, Houston Dash defender Anna Heilferty posted a video on Instagram in support of Free D.C. After the Spirit’s win over the Dash, she and four Houston teammates put on Free D.C. shirts and posed for pictures in front of the Washington supporters’ section.
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The Virginia native said despite no longer living near Washington, she still feels connected to the community and issues that impact it. Fan support encourages her to speak up, too.
“One of the special things about NWSL fans is how they’re able to come together for these things,” Heilferty said in an interview.
The Spirit next played Gotham on the road Oct. 1. This time, it was Gotham supporters’ group Cloud 9 that initiated the chant in the 51st minute.
Fans who travelled from Orlando to Washington for the Spirit-Pride game on Oct. 18 were also happy to participate.
“There are some issues that are larger than soccer,” said Jay, a Pride supporter who wished to be identified by only their first name.
Other NWSL fans have pushed back against federal law enforcement in their own cities. Amid Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence in Illinois, leaders from the Chicago Stars’ supporters’ group, Chicago Local 134, began fundraising for the Illinois Coalition for Immigration and Refugee Rights.
Although protests against federal law enforcement have only emerged in recent months, fans say activism itself has long been ingrained in the NWSL, which attracts fans with an affinity for activism.
“It means so much more than just liking the sport because there’s such a fight behind it,” said Jennifer Muller, a board member of Gotham supporters’ group Cloud 9.
NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman said she’s not surprised fans have embraced the “Free D.C.” chant.
“It’s clear, whether the fans are cheering for the Washington Spirit or anything else that they care about, that this community cares about this city,” Berman said. “They care about this team, and you can expect to see their enthusiasm about any issues that they think are important to their daily lives.”
The advocacy is not limited to fans. Members of Angel City FC donned shirts reading “Immigrant City Football Club” before a match in June amid ICE raids and protests in Los Angeles.
In Washington, the Spirit is the only professional sports team to have commented on federal activity in the city. The team posted a statement on Instagram captioned, “To D.C. with Love” the day after Trump announced the deployment of the National Guard.
“As your team, we stand with you,” the statement read. “As your neighbors, we walk beside you.”
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The Washington Wizards declined to comment. D.C. United, the Commanders, the Nationals, the Capitals and the Mystics did not respond to requests for comment.
‘The whole world is starting to notice’
After the chants’ initial success, Free D.C. volunteers printed 5,000 yellow cards to distribute to fans at the Dash game. Each card included instructions on the chant and a QR code that linked to the organization’s website.
Soccer referees show players yellow cards as warnings for unsportsmanlike conduct or fouls. Milic said Free D.C.’s cards represent the same message: a warning to the Trump administration.
The cards ran out two home games later.
On Nov. 8, in the playoff quarterfinals, the Spirit once again hosted Racing Louisville. Free D.C. volunteers came prepared with 10,000 yellow cards. Just after halftime, Milic said they’d given out 8,000 of them.
“You go to a soccer game, especially the Washington Spirit, and it’s all us,” he said. “Us weirdos, us marginalized, but also us, a little bit revolutionary.”
Fans traded their handheld yellow placards for larger posters that resembled brick walls in support of Kingsbury at the semifinal against Portland on Nov. 15. Still, several red and white “Free D.C.” flags hung amid the sea of yellow.
And during the Spirit’s championship bid, the chants rang out loud and clear on broadcast.
“From the first whistle at Audi Field to the very last second in San Jose, you built something rare and beautiful,” Spirit owner Michele Kang said in an Instagram post after the final. “You are the loudest, proudest, most devoted family in all of women’s soccer — and the whole world is starting to notice.”
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