{"id":502367,"date":"2026-05-14T21:57:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T21:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=502367"},"modified":"2026-05-14T23:23:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T23:23:57","slug":"sam-kerr-achingly-short-of-record-as-chelsea-exit-confirmed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=502367","title":{"rendered":"Sam Kerr achingly short of record as Chelsea exit confirmed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Matildas superstar <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nine.com.au\/person\/samantha-may-kerr-1m3w\" target=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" title=\"Sam Kerr\">Sam Kerr<\/a> is leaving <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nine.com.au\/topic\/chelsea-fc-1m1g\" target=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" title=\"Chelsea\">Chelsea<\/a> after a glittering six-and-a-half year period in which she won an astonishing number of trophies and became the club&#x27;s leading goal scorer in the Women&#x27;s Super League (WSL).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The London club confirmed the news, which had been speculated for several months, in a tribute posted to its website on Thursday afternoon (Friday morning AEST).<\/p>\n<p>The 32-year-old, who&#x27;s been heavily linked to a move to the USA&#x27;s National Women&#x27;s Soccer League next season, will play her last game for the club on Saturday against Manchester United.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nine.com.au\/sport\/nrl\/nrlw\/womens-state-of-origin-2026-game-two-result-video-jesse-southwell-teagan-berry-try-saving-tackles-jasmine-peters-20260514-p5zx5x.html\"><strong>&#x27;Incredible&#x27; moment star saves Origin moments after injury<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nine.com.au\/sport\/football\/premier-league-2026-manchester-city-crystal-palace-phil-foden-backheel-video-highlights-news-reaction-20260514-p5zwns.html\"><strong>Stunning backheel keeps title heat on Arsenal<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nine.com.au\/sport\/athletics\/melanie-doggett-age-group-world-record-2026-news-results-time-200m-video-flotrack-20260514-p5zx1o.html\" target=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" title=\"\"><strong>New sprint sensation, 14, sets age group world record<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>While the Blues are guaranteed third place regardless of the result, there will be increased interest not just because of Kerr&#x27;s farewell, but also because one more goal would see her equal the club&#x27;s all-time leading goal scorer, Fran Kirby, with 116 goals in all competitions.<\/p>\n<p>Kerr said there was &quot;a little bit of sadness&quot; leaving the club, her teammates and the fans.<\/p>\n<p><img data-id=\"151de96a-1c6e-46ac-996b-b93778a30a20\" src=\"https:\/\/prod.static9.net.au\/fs\/151de96a-1c6e-46ac-996b-b93778a30a20\" alt=\"Sam Kerr celebrates scoring Chelsea&#x27;s second goal against Manchester City.\" data-width=\"1024\" data-height=\"683\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&quot;But when I reflect on my Chelsea career and doing it for the last time, I just feel happy,&quot; she said, holding baby Jagger Mewis-Kerr in a video shared by the club.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Happy that it happened, and I feel so grateful to have played for this club for six years and won as many trophies as we could.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Kerr and Chelsea have had quiet years by their lofty standards but she has still managed to score 16 goals in 29 appearances this season, after coming back from a two-year layoff due to an ACL injury.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Football&#x27;s<\/strong><\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/9.nine.com.au\/vsf4jt\"><em><strong>new home, Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a><em><strong>, is the only place to watch the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, FA Cup, WSL, European World Cup qualifiers, J.League, NSWL and K League<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><img data-id=\"df530f3f-94b5-4a21-a40d-6fbeaa4c35a5\" src=\"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/df530f3f-94b5-4a21-a40d-6fbeaa4c35a5\" alt=\"Sam Kerr&#x27;s header was the historic goal. \" data-width=\"1024\" data-height=\"576\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Kerr leaves Chelsea with five WSL titles, three FA Cups, three League Cups, the Community Shield, and with a firm place in Chelsea history and the hearts of Blues supporters.<\/p>\n<p>Chelsea described the club&#x27;s fourth-highest appearance maker as a &quot;ruthless and consistent goalscorer&quot; and a &quot;hugely influential presence during a period of sustained success&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Kerr&#x27;s goals powered Chelsea to several trophies over the past six seasons,&quot; the club said.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;She was our top scorer during trophy-laden 2020\/21 and 2021\/22 campaigns and twice earned Women&#x27;s Super League Golden Boot awards after we claimed successive titles.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Kerr pointed to winning three FA Cups in a row as her favourite memories from her time at the club.<\/p>\n<p>It hasn&#x27;t been announced where she&#x27;ll play next year\ufeff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Matildas superstar Sam Kerr is leaving Chelsea after a glittering six-and-a-half year period in which she won an astonishing number of trophies and became the <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=502367\" title=\"Sam Kerr achingly short of record as Chelsea exit confirmed\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":502369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502367"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=502367"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":502372,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502367\/revisions\/502372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/502369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=502367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=502367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=502367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}