Former Kansas City Current sporting director Vlatko Andonovski is already back in the NWSL, with the Chicago Stars announcing Thursday that he has been hired as the chief soccer officer of the last-place club.
Andonovski’s tenure with the Current had ended just 10 days ago, as the team announced a mutual contract termination in a tersely worded press release that deemed his sporting director position to be “not the right fit”. As a head coach, Andonovski won two NWSL Coach of the Year awards and two NWSL championships. He has won consistent praise for his ability to built trust with players and staff – a significant trait in a league with a history of allegations of misconduct by coaches at the professional level.
The move is a much-needed boost for the Stars, who have won just five games this season. The team also finished last in 2025. Richard Feuz, hired as general manager in 2024, was fired earlier this year. Martin Sjögren, Feuz’s hire as head coach before the 2026 season, was let go in August.
The hiring of Andonovski comes as the club seeks to stabilize itself off the field. The Stars have played this season at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and will continue there in 2027 as they seek a new stadium downtown. An ownership consortium headlined by Chicago Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts bought the team in 2023 at a $35.5m valuation.
Andonovski was considered to be by far the most coveted free agent on the NWSL market, with ESPN reporting that several clubs around the league had inquired about bringing him on board either as a sporting director or as head coach.
His exit from the Current, and the nature of its announcement, drew surprise from around the NWSL, especially given Andonovski’s long history in the Kansas City area. Born in North Macedonia in the former Yugoslavia, he moved to the midwest in 2000 as an indoor soccer player, playing for the Kansas City Comets from 2001 to 2005 and later coaching the team before moving to the women’s game and coaching the NWSL’s previous Kansas City team (FC Kansas City) to championships in 2014 and 2015. His success there and with Reign FC in Seattle led to his hiring as head coach of the US women’s national team in 2019. He found less success at the international level, guiding the Americans to a bronze finish at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and then departing the program after a disappointing last-16 exit at the 2023 World Cup.
Hired as head coach and sporting director of the Current later that year, Andonovski led the team to one of the best regular seasons in NWSL history in 2025, winning 21 out of 26 games and finishing 21 points clear at the top of the table to win the NWSL Shield. However, the team fell short in the playoffs, exiting to eighth-seeded Gotham FC in extra time in the quarter-finals.
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Last November, Andonovski moved off the sidelines and into a new role as sporting director, with Chris Armas taking his place as head coach. The Current have comparatively struggled this season after the departure of several key players. Kansas City currently sit in seventh place, two points clear of the playoff line.