Photo courtesy of Chicago Stars FC
The Chicago Stars have hired former United States women’s national team coach Vlatko Andonovski as the team’s new chief soccer officer after his recent shocking departure from the Kansas City Current. Bringing in Andonovski is a huge hire for the franchise sitting in last place in the NWSL standings and possibly finishing there for the second straight season.
One of the most successful coaches in NWSL history, Andonovski will be the highest-ranking employee on Chicago’s currently depleted technical staff. The Stars beat out several other NWSL teams to secure his hiring in part because he is excited about how much work there is to do, telling ESPN, “I get excited with projects, and Chicago will very much be a project.”
His next tasks are appointing a technical director and head coach while simultaneously working on improving the roster for 2027. Chicago has been without a fulltime general manager since firing Richard Feuz in May. The Stars then fired head coach Martin Sjögren in August.
Chicago Stars president Karen Leetzow told ESPN she had started hiring other top professionals who had worked with Andonovski, not knowing if he would ever be available but seeing people leaving Kansas City. Those hires include Kate Cohen as interim technical consultant and Garga Caserta as interim director of high performance. Each had previously worked in similar roles with Kansas City until recently. Each also worked with Andonovski when he was the USWNT head coach.
Andonovski said he spoke with six different NWSL teams about similar roles, a few of those being more serious conversations. One club said he should coach again, but he wanted to take on a different role, taking joy in building a club’s identity. Chicago stuck out for its history of success, the approach of majority owner Laura Ricketts, and strong roster base featuring forwards Mallory Swanson and Jordyn Huitema, midfielder Julia Grosso, and defender Sam Staab. Additionally, the area is home to a large community of ex-Yugoslavians, a frequent stop for family, as he was born in Yugoslavia.
Andonovski brings trust and respect of players and fans to a franchise that has severely lacked that, in large part due to the abuse that previous ownership allowed head coach Rory Dames to enact for many years. Leetzow told ESPN the franchise has to own its failures before they can make it better, and hiring Andonovski is a signal of change and stability.
