South African coach Bradley Carnell has extended his stay as head coach of Major League Soccer side St Louis City after steering them to a surprise top spot in the Western Conference table in their debut year in 2023.
OUR GAFFER 🫡
— St Louis CITY SC (@stlCITYsc) January 31, 2024
We’re thrilled to announce Head Coach Bradley Carnell has agreed to a contract extension.
📝 https://t.co/BzupX7Jh7J pic.twitter.com/70ZNFlmtzP
The former Bafana Bafana left-back now had a deal that runs through the 2025 season, with his original contract to have ended following the upcoming campaign.
“That represents the commitment on both sides,” team president and general manager Diego Gigliani said. “We see him day to day, we already saw what (sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel) Lutz and the group saw in him when he was hired. He didn’t have a lot of head coach experience before coming, but they all saw in him some great potential and he’s definitely proven that last year.
“There was going to be interest for sure, and we sat down together and we all felt this was the right thing to do. Bradley is super-committed to this project and is happy here, his family is here; we also felt with just one year, we had seen enough to want to commit to a longer term with him.”
Carnell will also lead the team in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, essentially the Champions League for north and central American sides.
“I want to say thank you to Lutz, Diego, Carolyn (Kindle) and the ownership group for believing in me to help lead this project and continue from a successful year one,” Carnell said. “I am excited to continue working with the STL group. My family and I love the St. Louis area and can’t wait to build on top of the strong foundation that was built.”
Despite a loss to Sporting Kansas City in round one of the play-offs, it was a record-breaking year for rookies City in 2023 under Carnell.
They won 17 games from 34 in the regular season, setting a new best mark for the most wins by an expansion team, and finished with 56 points, one point off the record for a new club.
They were also the first team to win a regular season conference title and be a No 1 seed in the playoffs in its first season.
That was form that led to Carnell being second in the voting for MLS Coach of the Year.