KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Current didn’t wait long to pick their new head coach.
According to multiple reports, former USA women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski will be the Current’s new head coach.
According to The Equalizer, Andonovski will be head coach and sporting director for the Current.
On Friday afternoon, the Kansas City Current confirmed interim head coach Caroline Sjöblom will not return in 2024.
“We want to thank Caroline for all that she did for the Current this season,” general manager Camille Ashton said in a statement. “She stepped into a leadership role for us at a time of need and guided the team through a difficult season. We wish her the best in her future endeavors.”
The Current also announced a Monday morning news conference where they are expected to announce Andonovski’s hiring.
Andonovski has deep ties to the Kansas City area, having played for the indoor soccer team Kansas City Comets from 2001-2005.
He was also an assistant coach for the Comets from 2010-2013 (while simultaneously head coach of the Kansas City Kings of the Professional Arena Soccer League) and head coach from 2013-2016.
Andonovski was the first head coach for Kansas City’s first NWSL team FC Kansas City and led them to back-to-back league championships in 2014 and 2015.
He also got his bachelor’s degree from Park University.
He also led OL Reign (then Seattle Reign FC and Reign FC) to back-to-back NWSL semifinal finishes in 2018 and 2019.
The 47-year-old spent the last four years as the head of the USWNT, leading them to a bronze medal in the 2020 Olympics. But his team was recently knocked out in the round of 16 of the 2023 Women’s World Cup by Sweden in a penalty shootout.
The US won the previous four gold medals at the Olympics, and it was USWNT’s worst World Cup finish ever.
Andonovski was criticized for the team’s underperformance and handed in his resignation in August.
The Macedonian coach takes over a Current team that finished 8-2-12 and was led by Sjöblom after the team fired head coach Matt Potter after three matches. The team cited “issues around his leadership and employment responsibilities,” announcing the change hours before a Challenge Cup match with the Houston Dash, which they won.
Andonovski will also lead the club into their historic new stadium CPKC Stadium, the first-ever stadium built for professional women’s soccer.
The Current will be introducing Andonvoski as head coach soon.
