The Philadelphia Union fired head coach Jim Curtin on Thursday, ending his decade-long tenure in charge of the team. The Union missed the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2017 this season, finishing 12th in the Eastern Conference. It was a sudden drop after reaching the 2022 MLS Cup final, although a series of injuries significantly derailed their hopes this season.
Curtin has long been synonymous with Union – the team is the only one he has ever coached and is the team’s longest-serving coach, taking over as head coach in June 2014, just four years into his season. of expansion. The Pennsylvania native has also been on the Union’s books since June 2010, when he was hired as an academy coach. He was promoted to assistant coach prior to the 2013 season by then-head coach John Hackworth, replacing Hackowrth on an interim basis after a slump entering the 2014 season.
During his spell as caretaker, Curtin’s Union lost just six of their remaining 15 matches and reached the final of the US Open Cup, prompting the club to reward him with the full-time head coaching position.
Union’s faith in Curtin finally paid off with a Supporters’ Shield victory in 2020, the club’s first and only trophy so far. They were also runners-up in the 2022 MLS Cup, as well as finalists in the 2014, 2015, and 2018 US Open Cup finals.
Although Curtin signed a new long-term contract just over a year ago, his streak of winning just nine games in 2024 was one of the Union’s worst performances in recent years.
Curtin is now the eighth head coach fired in MLS this season, and the Union position is now one of four in the league still vacant.
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