DC United made history by hiring Lucy Rushton

DC United made a historic and almost unprecedented choice in the 25-year life of Major League Soccer (MLS). It's because the Washington franchise agreed to hire Lucy Rushton, Atlanta United's current head of technical recruiting and analytics, as general manager. Rushton, who has also spent time with English teams Reading FC and Watford, will become the second female general manager in MLS history, and the first since Lynne Meterperel became general manager of the San Jose Earthquakes in 1999.

The move comes as part of a broader transition DC United is making. At the end of last year, the club left Ben Olsen, the club's head coach for the past decade, and hired 38-year-old Argentine Hernán Losada to replace him. At the end of March, the club parted ways with Chris Deubert, its main legal advisor since November 2018.

Rushton joins a historic process

Rushton will join another pioneering figure in United's recent history: In December 2020, the club hired Danita Johnson as its new president of business operations, becoming the first black president in an MLS franchise and the third woman. in occupying that position.

Rushton's trajectory

Prior to her work on the Atlanta, Reading and Watford coaching staff, Rushton was a professional player: she won an English League Championship title with Reading in 2011-12 and reached the 2015 FA Cup semi-finals with that same club. She studied at the University of Reading and earned a Masters in Sports Performance Analysis.