As our very talented group of 2009 boys approach the transition into the prestigious MLS NEXT league, we are excited to announce that City SC Boys Academy Director, Paul Ritchie, will be the 2021/22 head coach for our 2009 Boys MLS NEXT team.
“As we start to plan behind the scenes for what the next couple of years has in store for this age group, I am extremely excited to announce that Paul has been assigned to helping this awesome group of players progress to the next level,” commented Glenn Malone, City SC Director of Boys. “Over the past few years the team has progressed vastly under Coach Manny. Manny has done a great job with their development and has built a solid foundation for Paul to come in and keep pushing their talent along. To give this set of young men an opportunity to work with someone who we feel is one of the best around is something we are extremely excited about.”
For those not familiar with Paul, he comes with an illustrious CV to say the least. Paul played for Hearts in Scotland from 1992-2000 and was an integral part of the Hearts team that won the Scottish Cup 20 years ago (he was recently inducted into their Hall of Fame). Paul also played for Man City, Rangers and Bolton to mention a few, and was also capped many times internationally by Scotland.
Malone summarized, “From playing and coaching at the very highest level, to now bringing all that experience to the highest level of youth soccer is something that the City SC Boys program is very fortunate to have. For this set of boys to get all that knowledge and experience on top of a coach that really believes in true development is an exciting opportunity.”
To view Paul’s Coaching BIO please visit: https://ourcitysc.com/competitive/coaches/paul-ritchie/
To view Paul’s Wikipedia page please visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ritchie_(footballer,_born_1975)
Below is Paul speaking about City SC becoming one of the founding members of the new MLS NEXT league.
