Stars appoint Andonovski Chief Soccer Officer

CHICAGO, IL–Chicago Stars FC are in desperate need of direction. They have turned to a two-time champion coach in the NWSL and former US Women’s National Team coach Vlatko Andonovski to steer them back in the right direction. Andonockis was appointed Chief Soccer Officer as he will oversee all sporting and technical initiatives at the club; He joins after ushering a transformational era in his previous club; The move is part of the Stars’ sporting department restructure.

That includes working closely with the head coach on roster building, on-field strategy, scouting, transfers, and player development. The Stars will soon add leadership positions reporting to Andonovski across its sporting ranks as the club finalizes a structural rebuild.

“Joining the Chicago Stars was an easy decision after the conversations I had with ownership and leadership,” said Andonovski. “We had the opportunity to talk in depth about the direction of this club, their vision, and values. Everything I heard aligns with the way I believe the game should be played and what the club needs to be successful. One of the things that excites me the most about this club is there is so much opportunity, and I can’t wait to be around the staff and players and start pushing forward.”

The Stars had been without a head of soccer operations since the club sacked Richard Feuz as general manager on May 27th. Head coach Martin Sjogren was sacked last month. The Stars are odds on to finish bottom of the league for the third time in four seasons and also being bottom in goals scored, goals shipped, and goal difference. The roster rebuild started earlier with Jameese Joseph transferred to Utah and Manaka Hiyashi going to Juventus.

Anodonvski, who won two titles with FC Kansas City in 2014 and 2015, left Kansas City Current as sporting director on September 7th. Stars President, who has previously worked with Andonovski at US Soccer, saw an opportunity.

“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.

“I know that what Vlatko brings is a level of trust, that we can trust who he is because we’ve known him. We know who he is. I think players know what he brings, which are high standards, and I think his team brings something that we didn’t feel like we had, which was a level of transparency around what they’re doing and why they’re doing it, that the rest of management can buy in and then support them in a way that we didn’t have previously.”

The Stars’ next game is Sunday at 4pm CT against Washington Spirit (ESPN, ESPN App).