The Portland Thorns on Jan. 24 fired assistant coach Sophie Clough and trainer Pierre Soubrier after separate investigations found violations of National Women's Soccer League policies.
The Portland Thorns on Jan. 24 fired assistant coach Sophie Clough and trainer Pierre Soubrier after separate investigations found violations of National Women's Soccer League policies.
The Portland Thorns have fired head trainer Pierre Soubrier and assistant coach Sophie Clough.
The terminations, announced Tuesday, Jan. 24, by the National Women’s Soccer League, come after investigations found each had violated different NWSL policies and, in the case of Soubrier, broken the law.
The league announced that Soubrier and Clough have each been suspended from working in the NWSL for all of 2023 and that the Thorns have terminated the employment of both.
Clough, an assistant coach with the Thorns since 2016, was found to have behaved inappropriately when she kissed a player on the neck during the Thorns’ championship celebration in Washington, D.C. An investigation by a third party hired by the NWSL substantiated the claims of unwanted physical contact by Clough.
Soubrier, the husband of Thorns and U.S. Women’s National Team player Crystal Dunn, was found through a NWSL third-party investigation to have provided medicine containing codeine to two Thorns players at Portland’s semifinal match against San Diego on Oct. 22, 2022.
Codeine is a controlled substance that can only be prescribed by a doctor. According to the league’s statement, an investigation confirmed that Soubrier had violated league policy and federal and state laws by giving players codeine to multiple players on multiple occasions, including to one player without her informed consent.
The league statement said it will report Soubrier to both the Oregon Board of Athletic Trainers and to the Board of Certification.
According to the league's investigation, Thorns team physician Dr. Breanne Brown reported to club management that Soubrier told her that he administered codeine to two players at the semifinal match. The club then forwarded that report to the league, which began its investigation.
According to the league:
“Subject to the ruling and requirements of the Oregon Board of Athletic Trainers and of the Board of Certification, Soubrier will be eligible for future employment in the league at the commissioner’s discresion provided that he acknowledges wrongdoing and accepts personal responsibility for his conduct and demonstrates a sincere commitment to correcting his behavior.”
The league said Brown for three months will be subject to increased oversight and must regularly report to the NWSL chief medical officer.
A separate bullying complaint against Clough was not substantiated.
These terminations are the latest hits to a club that dismissed general manager Gavin Wilkinson and president of soccer Mike Golub after investigations found the club did not appropriately protect players from the abusive behavior of former Thorns coach Paul Riley.
Merritt Paulson, owner of the Portland Thorns and the Portland Timbers, has said he will sell the Thorns and the NWSL has demanded he sell, following the investigations into the Paul Riley mess.
Then, after leading the Thorns to the 2022 NWSL championship in her only season as the team’s head coach, Rhian Wilkinson stepped down after a league investigation into her relationship with Thorns defender Emily Menges. While that investigation cleared Wilkinson of any wrongdoing, she said she had lost the trust of Thorns players.
Paul Danzer is a sports reporter based in Portland, Ore.
