Sam Kerr’s partner leaves team to start new life with Aussie

Sam Kerr’s partner Kristie Mewis has left her team to start a new life with the Matildas captain in a move that has an awkward twist.

American footballer Kristie Mewis is set to move to the UK to be closer to partner Sam Kerr.

It was first reported on Thursday (AEDT) that the US women’s national team star is leaving Gotham FC to join West Ham in the Women’s Super League.

It is both a blessing and a curse for the Matildas captain, with both players to play for London-based clubs next season.

The awkward news for Kerr is that she will again have to play against her fiancee as her Chelsea team attempts to win the league for the fifth consecutive year.

The Athletic first reported Mewis will be West Ham’s first signing of the January transfer window.

Mewis and Kerr had announced their engagement last month and recently discussed potential apartments in London to share during a sitdown interview with Esquire that was published earlier this month.

The moment Sam Kerr proposed to Kristie Mewis. Picture: Sam Kerr/Facebook

The couple show off the engagement ring. Picture: Sam Kerr/Facebook

A recently released documentary about the USWNT’s trainwreck World Cup campaign showed Mewis and Kerr talking about how they were “done” with the long-distance part of their relationship.

The documentary also gives several glimpses into the cute, playful way Kerr and Mewis act around each other.

“Sam, she’s just like the best person ever,” Mewis said.

“I feel like everybody says that about their partner, but I just feel so lucky that she likes me.

“Sometimes I feel I have impostor syndrome and I’m like, how is she choosing me? How am I good enough for her?”

Sam Kerr celebrates during the World Cup with her partner Kristie Mewis. Picture: Elsa - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

Mewis stayed in Australia for the remainder of the World Cup to cheer Kerr on despite her team’s nightmare elimination.

A few months later, the couple announced they were engaged.

But they kept the news secret for several weeks and eventually confirmed Kerr had put a ring on it just two weeks after the Matildas’ World Cup campaign finished.

Tongues had been wagging since an Instagram post of Mewis wearing what looked very much like an engagement ring emerged in mid-September.

But the pair kept it quiet, playing a game with fans as they refused to confirm the news until Mewis broke the couple’s silence on November 9 in an exclusive interview with People Magazine.

Sam Kerr is engaged to Kristie Mewis. Picture: instagram

Sam Kerr and Kristie Mewis on Instagram.

Mewis had played the past two seasons for Gotham FC, including during the team’s 2023 championship run.

In all, Mewis made 14 appearances for Gotham during the 2023 season, but her time was limited for them this past season because of USWNT commitments and injury.

She made her first World Cup appearance last summer when she came off the bench against Sweden in the last-16.

Mewis is set to join a West Ham squad that is second from the bottom in the Women’s Super League – the equivalent of the English Premier League – and tied for points in the league table.

Mewis would be able to make her WSL debut when West Ham plays its first match of 2024 on January 21 against Tottenham.

— with New York Post