The Chicago Stars hired former U.S. women’s national team coach Vlatko Andonovski as their new chief soccer officer on Thursday.
Andonovski officially joined the Stars 10 days after parting ways with the Kansas City Current, where he was the sporting director after previously also serving as the head coach. He is taking over a club that is last in the 16-team NWSL with 17 points (5-17-2) after 24 matches.
He will be in charge of hiring a coach and a technical director as well as upgrading a roster that currently is led by USWNT standout Mallory Swanson.
He said in a press conference on Thursday, according to The Athletic, “Next year, we’re gonna do whatever it takes to be in the playoffs, and the work starts for me — literally — actually, it started a few days ago before I even got announced, when I signed the contract. I feel very confident that we’re gonna bring some good players here.”
Stars president Karen Leetzow, who previously worked with Andonovski at U.S. Soccer, said that her strategy for luring Andonovski relied on hiring people who had worked with him.
“This is exactly how you do this,” Leetzow told ESPN. “You build all the people that the best would want to work with, and then they want to come and work with you.”
Andonovski said he was sold on Chicago while meeting with club owner Laura Ricketts.
ESPN noted that the Stars previously added former Current technical staffers Kate Cohen and Garga Caserta. One of the people not yet in Chicago is Milan Ivanovic, a longtime assistant coach under Andonovski. Ivanovic is a candidate to coach the Stars and other NWSL clubs, according to ESPN, though Andonovski said other teams could be in the mix for Ivanovic.
Andonovski had three highly successful years as the Current’s coach. Last season, the club set NWSL records with 21 wins and 65 points en route to winning the NWSL Shield, though they lost in the playoff quarterfinals.
Andonovski succeeded Jill Ellis as USWNT coach in 2019 after the team won the FIFA Women’s World Cup that year. He was replaced in 2023 after the team had its worst-ever Women’s World Cup performance, a round of 16 loss.
The Stars fired general manager Richard Feuz in May and coach Martin Sjogren in August.
–Field Level Media
