St. Louis City SC names Bradley Carnell as head coach for their inaugural season

St. Louis City SC named Bradley Carnell as its head coach for its inaugural season in 2023, the year the team will make its MLS debut. 

The announcement was made today through the club's social media channels in which photos and videos revealed that the former assistant coach of the New York Red Bulls. 

Carnell is a former South African soccer player and was a full international for his country's national team between 1997 and 2010.

He played as a defender and played for Borussia Mönchengladbach, VfB Stuttgart, and Kaizer Chiefs. 

After retiring from soccer, the South African was an assistant coach for Free State Stars and Orlando Pirates in South Africa, before joining the New York club in 2017. 

In September 2020, he was appointed as interim coach of this team, following the dismissal of Chris Armas and before the arrival of Gerhard Struber. 

What was said about Bradley Carnell's arrival at St. Louis City SC?

The team's sporting director, Lutz Pfannenstiel expressed his excitement to already have a head coach for his team. Through a message in a statement, Pfannenstiel welcomed Carnell. 

"We can honestly say that we got our top candidate to be the first head coach of our club, and we wanted to have him on board early because of the integral role he will play in building our first team," the sporting director said. 

Pfannenstiel emphasized that Carnell will be in charge of assembling the team with which the club will fight for the title in its debut season in 2023. 

The director also addressed the fact that Carnell already has MLS experience and highlighted his experience with a big team like the New York Red Bulls. 

"We knew it would be important to have someone who understood the ins and outs of MLS, as well as the international market, and Bradley has all the attributes we were looking for. His playing and coaching experience make him stand out, and I am confident he will help us build a very competitive team for our inaugural season in 2023," concluded Pfannenstiel.

Carnell's experience was key to his recruitment

Carnell began as head coach of the men's team at the University of Johannesburg.

He would later serve as an assistant coach with the Orlando Pirates before coming to MLS. 

And beginning in 2017, Carnell was an assistant coach with the New York Red Bulls and was later named the team's interim head coach in September 2020. 

As interim coach, he achieved an accomplishment that put him on St. Louis City SC's radar.

He was the only MLS interim head coach to guide his team to the postseason in 2020 and also earned the team a sixth-place finish in the MLS Eastern Conference.