Havertown, Pa., native Sinead Farrelly announced her immediate retirement from playing soccer on Friday, ending a career that included one of the all-time comebacks in her sport — or any sport.

The 34-year-old midfielder was one of the key players in blowing the lid off a huge abuse scandal in the National Women’s Soccer League in 2021, with allegations that led to former Philadelphia Independence manager Paul Riley and other prominent coaches being banned from the sport. (Riley has denied the claims, but the ban remains in place.)

Farrelly stunningly returned to the field last year, after eight years away from it, joining Gotham FC and the Republic of Ireland’s women’s national team. She went to the World Cup with Ireland in the summer, the nation’s first in the women’s game, and won the NWSL championship with Gotham in the fall.

This year, Farrelly has played just once for Gotham, a late-game cameo on April 28.

Inside the decision

She is leaving the field now because of long-term symptoms of past concussions. Gotham’s news release said Farrelly was advised by a neurologist “to cease playing soccer due to the cumulative head injuries that she has suffered throughout her career, leaving her vulnerable to additional head injuries if she were to continue to play.”

Farrelly and a Gotham spokesperson told The Philadelphia Inquirer that she hasn’t been in a major incident recently, but the symptoms had been a problem lately.

There will inevitably be some sadness in the sport, including among Philadelphia-area women’s soccer fans who watched Farrelly start her pro career with the former Independence in 2011. On the whole, though, there can be no doubt that she has achieved a remarkable triumph. As she came to the decision to retire, she allowed herself time to reflect on it.

“This year was really important for me for that, and that’s why I’m so grateful that I had this year,” Farrelly said. “Last year, it just felt [that] there was so much that happened, and it was a lot of putting one foot in front of the other and just kind of being along for the ride. But there wasn’t that much space for me to reflect.”

She called this year “a different experience,” and said she has “really felt so much of the gratitude, the joy, the accomplishment that I feel from the last year and a half. And I just feel like I’m ending on such a positive note, even though I can see that maybe it can look another way.”

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