Abuse Covered Up By NJ Gov. Murphy's Soccer Team: Investigation

Editor's notes: This article contains graphic details of reported sexual abuse.

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the person who had a relationship with a player. It was Christy Holly who had a romantic relationship with a player.

NEW JERSEY — A coach at the center of an explosive investigation into abuse in the highest levels of American women's soccer was accused of engaging in inappropriate conduct while leading the professional team owned by New Jersey's first family.

Despite athletes reporting concerns to Sky Blue FC, the club remained publicly positive about Christy Holly, which allowed him to keep getting coaching gigs and continue abusing athletes, according to the investigation conducted by former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.

Governor Phil Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy have owned the club, which is now called NJ/NY Gotham FC, since founding the franchise in 2006. Holly was an assistant coach for Sky Blue from 2013-15, before serving as head coach from 2016-17.

Former General Manager Tony Novo said he received "half a dozen or so" complaints about Holly's "abusive" behavior starting in 2016, according to the 319-page report released this week. Holly also had a romantic relationship with an athlete that became disruptive to the locker room, the investigation states.

But when Sky Blue let Holly go in August 2017, the team stated in a press release that his departure was a "mutual decision." The investigation paints a picture of Sky Blue failing to inform other teams of the circumstances behind Holly's departure and disinterest from teams, the National Women's Soccer League and the United States Soccer Federation about finding out.

The USSF retained Yates and law firm King & Spalding to conduct the investigation, while the NWSL and the NWSL Players Association conduct a parallel inquiry. (The NWSL is the top professional women's soccer league in the United States. The USSF, or "the Federation," is the nation's official soccer governing body.)

NWSL team Racing Louisville hired Holly in 2020. The club then fired him "for cause" in August 2021 but did not publicly state why. The investigation revealed that Racing Louisville terminated Holly's contract because of alleged sexual abuse against an athlete. Holly signed the athlete to Sky Blue in 2016 and sexually harassed and abused her for several years, following his time with the team, according to the investigation.

Prior to the investigative report's release, Holly's conduct as a coach — including his time with Sky Blue — remained largely confidential.

When the USSF hired Holly to work with the National Team in 2018, "much of the soccer world understood any previous concerns had been mitigated or resolved," the report states. "The silence allowed individuals to draw their own conclusions, which in part ultimately led Racing Louisville to hire Holly."

Murphy was not yet governor but was in the midst of campaigning for his first term. This is the second time a Murphy-run entity has been accused of mishandling misconduct allegations from around that time.

A former Murphy administration staffer claimed that Murphy's then-campaign advisor Al Alvarez raped her that year, with allegations becoming public in 2018. Katie Brennan sued the state, Alvarez and the Murphy administration, which culminated in a $1 million settlement in May 2020. Murphy has long said he didn't know about the allegations against Alvarez until after the Wall Street Journal published them in 2018, but a bipartisan committee of state lawmakers said Murphy "mishandled" the rape accusation.

Patch contacted both Sky Blue and the Murphy administration for comment on the report's allegations. An administration spokesperson said they "won't be commenting at this time" and deferred to the team.

A spokesperson for Gotham FC sent Patch the following statement:

"Gotham FC leadership received the U.S. Soccer yesterday (Monday) afternoon and is reviewing it in conjunction with the National Women’s Soccer League. We deeply appreciate and are indebted to everyone who came forward to share their experiences and shape the report, including our own players and employees.

We are confident that their courage, and the future publication of the independent NWSL/NWSLPA joint investigation, will usher in player-focused reforms that will continue to enhance the safety, well-being, and success of our players and employees. Club leadership is committed to working with the NWSL and remains a strong advocate for those reforms."

Holly Takes Helm, Despite Lack Of Experience

Holly advanced through the Sky Blue organization despite a "marked lack of experience," according to the report. He walked onto the Sky Blue field as a part-time volunteer reserve team coach after mostly coaching youth. Holly became head coach three years later, despite never holding the requisite license to be a head coach in the NWSL, the report states.

When Holly became head coach, he "would show up late, fail to plan training sessions, and wait to prepare a line-up until minutes before the game," according to the investigation.

In his second season (2017), the coach turned increasingly erratic and aggressive, the report states. The coach refused to tell players who would be traveling to an away game or who would make the dressing roster for a home game until the last possible moment, toying with their hopes for playing time and resulting in athletes begging him to find out, the report says. One player told investigators that Holly would "joke" about ripping up her contract.

Many players told investigators that Holly lodged personal attacks unrelated to soccer and physically grabbed athletes' shoulders or collar as he screamed at them.

During Holly's second season, rumors of his relationship with then-team captain Christie Pearce Rampone became an omnipresent team issue. Players told investigators the pair would fight often, leaving the team to ride out the vagaries in their relationship.

An assistant coach told Novo in August 2017 that Holly "lost the locker room." Before the next match, the general manager tried speaking with most of the players and coaches individually, the report says. One player recalled Novo asking, "Is it bad?" She responded, "We've been telling you it was bad."

The Behavior Continues

When Sky Blue announced Holly's departure in the middle of the 2017 season, the team's press release call it a mutual agreement and said the coach left the club on good terms. The soccer community was "generally aware" of Holly's relationship with his former player, but few understood its toxic impact on Sky Blue, according to investigators.

Neither the NWSL nor the Federation had a clear anti-fraternization policy. NWSL General Counsel Lisa Levine decided the issue resolved itself when Pearce stopped playing for Sky Blue in 2017.

In 2018, the Federation hired Holly to work with the National Team. It was that year when he became closer with an athlete that he would go on to sexually harass and abuse, according to the report.

Erin Simon previously impressed at an open tryout, prompting Sky Blue to sign her in 2016 before releasing her in May 2018. By then, Holly was so longer coaching Sky Blue, but Simon considered the coach a mentor, so they stayed in touch.

Holly began offseason training with Simon in summer 2018, but he started pushing boundaries, the report says. In May 2019, Simon and Holly were in his kitchen, making smoothies with Rampone. Holly grabbed Simon's breasts from behind, according to the report.

The coach texted Simon pictures of his penis and a video of him masturbating, pressuring her to send sexual photos of herself, the report says.

In November 2020, Holly selected Simon to Racing Louisville in the team's expansion draft. Simon thought if Holly coached her again, he'd have to stop acting inappropriately toward her, the investigation says.

Simon told investigators she texted Holly, "now that you're my boss, I guess you'll have to stop." She recalled Holly texting back "I've got until January 1," the date he officially became her coach at Racing Louisville.

Holly's behavior further escalated, the report says. He once invited Simon to his house to watch game film and instead showed her pornography, touched her and told her he wanted to have a threesome with her and another player, the investigation states.

Simon tried to leave, but Holly began masturbating in front of her, the report says. Simon told investigators she pulled away, and Holly grabbed her arm as she tried to turn the corner to leave.

When Simon joined Racing Louisville, Holly frequently texted her to come over, and she often brought her friend and teammate, Brooke Hendrix, for safety. Simon felt pressure to keep her head coach happy, and Holly's inappropriate advances continued, the report says.

Holly called Simon to a one-on-one film session on April 21, 2021. During the session, they reviewed errant passes from Simon. Holly told Simon he would touch her "for every pass you (expletive)ed up," and he did, the report says. She recalls Holly started touching her and repeatedly pushed his hands under her pants and under her bra, according to the investigation.

Simon crossed her legs and pushed his hand away as she tried hard "to keep the peace and the balance and to keep (Holly) from getting mad," the report says.

Holly retaliated after Simon told him about her discomfort, the report says. The coach refused to speak to Simon or shake her hand as she came off the field, the report says. He wouldn't tell her whether she was in the starting lineup.

In July 2021, Simon confided in a team chaplain, Taylor Starr. Starr assumed there would be clear guidelines on how to proceed with reported abuse, but she was met with similar confusion. The NWSL volunteer chaplain coordinator told Starr there were no guidelines, no clear precedent.

Starr later told the team's lead chaplain that Holly had been sexually harassing a player — she withheld Simon's name — and from there, things moved quickly, the report says. It resulted in Simon telling Racing Louisville's executive team what happened, leading management to terminate Holly.

But prior communications between Sky Blue and Racing Louisville showed the New Jersey franchise hadn't been upfront about why they fired Holly, and their Kentucky counterpart had little interest in details.

Sky Blue Avoids Details

Before hiring Holly, the National Team gave Holly generally positive referrals. But head coach Vlatko Andonovski cautioned that "there is obviously a reason why he got fired from Sky Blue," the report says.

Racing Louisville President Brad Estes and Executive Vice President James O'Connor spoke with Steven Temares — Sky Blue's third founding owner, along with the Murphy's. Temares told Racing Louisville that even with the "relationship issue," he would "100 percent" hire Holly again, the report states. Estes told investigators that Temares's comments assuaged his concerns about any issues Holly had at Sky Blue.

Estes and O'Connor also contacted Mary Smoot, an executive officer with Sky Blue. Upon being contacted, Smoot emailed Ed Nalbandian — a new owner who had joined the club in January 2020 — for guidance.

"Can I say that he stepped down because he was in a serious relationship with a player?" Smoot asked in the July 26, 2020, email.

Nalbandian said he had been unaware of Holly's issues, which predated his time with Sky Blue. But he believed it was important for Smoot to convey that Holly didn't leave "due to job performance reasons" but because of a human resources issue, the investigation shows.

But the next day, before Smoot's call with Louisville, Nalbandian told Smoot it stood out to him that the players felt uncomfortable around Holly and that she should convey the impact from a player perspective, the report says.

Nalbandian told investigators he contacted NWSL Commissioner Lisa Baird about Holly and urged the league and Louisville to conduct proper vetting. Baird thanked him but never told Nalbandian anything further about the matter, the report states.

When Smoot spoke Racing Louisville's executives, she brought up his relationship with Rampone at the outset of the call, "and they had no problem with it," the investigation states. Smoot recalled it wasn't a long conversation, and Louisville seemed to have their minds made up.

After Louisville hired Holly, media quoted O'Connor stating he received a "glowing recommendation of Christy Holly from Sky Blue ownership." Smoot felt shocked when she saw this, according to the report.

She emailed Temares and the Murphy's that she did not give Holly a glowing review. According to investigators, Temares responded, "Matters not. We would never discuss whether we participate in a reference check, and if we did, what was said."

It wasn't clear whether Sky Blue leadership brought up Holly's reported abuse of athletes when speaking with Racing Louisville. When Louisville hired Holly, he still spoke glowingly of his time with Sky Blue. The New Jersey franchise hadn't made any public statements to indicate things happened differently.

"The (Sky Blue) owners are people that I'm very thankful to for the opportunity they have given me," Holly told media. "I spoke to them (recently). They were the first to find out. James had a good conversation (with them)."