NJ/NY Gotham’s Whitham, 14, tops Sullivan as youngest pro

NJ/NY Gotham FC forward McKenna “Mak” Whitham became the youngest player to appear for a U.S. top-flight professional team on Sunday.

Whitham entered Sunday’s match in the 80th minute for her team’s 1-0 win over the Washington Spirit at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania. She turned 14 years old on Saturday and signed with Gotham earlier in the week as a national team replacement player, a mechanism the NWSL uses to fill rosters during major tournaments.

“We have identified Mak as a special talent but it will take some time to obviously reach her potential,” said Gotham coach Juan Carlos Amoros after the match.

Whitham’s guaranteed contract begins on Jan. 1, 2025, and runs through 2028.

“I’d seen myself as a really good player, but also, there’s a lot to improve on, and I knew that I could accomplish it,” Whitham told ESPN earlier this week. “And I think that it’s a lot of hard work, self-belief.”

The Philadelphia Union’s Cavan Sullivan had set the record for youngest appearance in a U.S. top-flight game only 11 days earlier in the same stadium when he made an appearance in the final minutes of his team’s 5-1 win over the New England Revolution in an MLS regular-season match.

Sullivan, who bested a mark held by one-time USMNT…