January 24, 2024 — Orlando Pride announced the signing of American forward Simone Charley from Angel City FC. For someone starting a new chapter, you’d expect the excitement to start playing would be at its peak. But it seems fate had its own way of delaying things. So, guess when the veteran forward finally made her debut? Believe it or not — how does August 3, 2025, sound?

But why would she end up taking a whole year just to make her debut? Well, for context, even before signing for the Pride, Charley wasn’t playing. Sadly, in the middle of the 2023 season, the Boston, Massachusetts native ruptured her Achilles tendon in her left foot. Since then, the 30-year-old has been in recovery.

As the season ended, Simone was expected to make a return. But again, things took a turn for the worse as she ended up sustaining the very same injury, but this time in her right ankle. “Devastated doesn’t even begin to describe the feeling…But, we go on,” she wrote while sharing a picture of herself from the hospital bed in an Instagram post.

Charley even promised to be back on the field with two new achilles, even calling her return the simulation of “Cyborg”. Fast forward to today, the Vanderbilt University alum, a college in Nashville, Tennessee, is finally back in action. The last time she was witnessed in action was on April 2, 2023. Her return to the field today marks an astonishing 854-day break from the game.

Sure, for a different team, in a different shirt, but with a similar desire and hunger to play. Not to mention, the day also remains special because the former Angel City star made her debut for the Pride in a regular-season NWSL match against Utah Royals, entering during the 79th minute mark.

Before the game, she even expressed her excitement on Instagram, sharing a picture of herself with a caption saying, “854 days since I’ve been able to say this…Happy Game Day, you guys 🥹💜” also wishing her teammates well, which sadly didn’t prove lucky as Seb Hines and Co. endured a vague 1-1 draw at Inter & Co. Stadium.

In fact, the Pride were rather on the verge of enduring an upset at their home ground because the Utah Royals were ahead in the game within four minutes of kick-off. It was way after the hour mark during the 72 minutes when Prisca Chilufya found the equaliser, and with minutes later Simone Charley entered the pitch.

Sometimes, waiting is the wisest move, they say, and we couldn’t agree more after hearing this story of the former Canberra United star, an Australian club she represented briefly between 2019 and 2020 before joining Angel City for three years. In fact, after the game, Charley herself had a few words to quote on her return.

Turning the Angel City page for Orlando Pride is just the beginning!

Though Simone Charley remains gutted over the defeat, stating the team didn’t get the start they were hoping to make, she did praise her teammates for showcasing their resilience and grit, especially how they managed to respond despite being a goal down. “This is just another building block on part two of the season. We have so many more games to go, so we’re just getting started,” she said.

The former Portland Thorns star also reminisced about the “surreal” recovery period, where she faced significant challenges on her journey to return to playing. “I’m just so grateful for the belief that this club has had in me and just for being part of the whole journey. Stepping on the field right before the game, I just think back to how many people worked so hard to get me there,” Charley added.

The moment she was told to get ready to enter the pitch, Simone Charley couldn’t help but say, “Someone pinch me,” admitting that the long wait for this day was exactly what kept her going. And as she stepped onto the field, she did so with only one intention in mind: “I’m going to have fun today.” And fun, she had—even if the match ended in a vague draw with her not being able to make a defining contribution, unlike another player who also made a comeback, albeit for a different team, to the game after a prolonged recovery period.

Certainly, in the coming matchdays, the former Angel City star hopes to maintain her momentum and truly show the soccer community what they’ve been missing all this time.