St. Louis City SC have announced the departure of head coach Bradley Carnell.
The South African joined the Major League Soccer outfit as their first manager in January 2022.
Carnell kicked off his stint at the club after guiding them to the 2023 Western Conference Regular-Season crown with a record of 17 wins, 12 draws and three defeats.
However, the season that followed did not go as planned, as they only secured three wins, seven draws and suffered 10 defeats, leaving them in 12th place currently in the league standings.
“Given Bradley’s many contributions to the club, this was not an easy decision,” said CITY SC Sporting Director Lutz Pfannenstiel.
“Unfortunately, based on our Year 2 results to date, we believe a coaching change is in the best interest of the club as we regroup and look to improve both our performance and our results.”
Meanwhile, City president and GM Diego Gigliani said: “On behalf of everyone at CITY SC, we would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Bradley for his time with the club. He was integral to the club’s success during our historic first campaign.
“Bradley, Claudia and their family embraced St Louis and we wish them nothing but the best moving forward,” continued Gigliani.
St. Louis City SC has since released the following statement on his departure, which reads:
St. Louis CITY SC today announced the departure of the club’s head coach, Bradley Carnell. Technical Director John Hackworth will manage the team on an interim basis as CITY SC begins the search for a new head coach.
CITY SC hired Carnell as its first manager in January 2022. During the club’s inaugural campaign with Carnell at the helm, the squad finished as the 2023 Western Conference Regular-Season champions with a mark of 17-12-3. St. Louis became the first expansion team to win a conference regular-season title and record 17 wins (post-shootout era).
But wins have been difficult to come by in CITY SC’s sophomore season, with a current record of 3-7-10, averaging .95 points per game and with the team sitting 26th in the Supporter Shield standings.
Effective immediately, Hackworth will assume the title of interim head coach. A long-time member of the U.S. soccer ecosystem, Hackworth has close to 30 years of coaching experience at various levels, including two different assistant coaching assignments with the U.S. Men’s National Team and head coaching positions with the Philadelphia Union and the USL’s Louisville CITY FC, where he led the team to the 2018 USL championship.
