Columbus Crew Reach Agreement for Wilfried Nancy to Become Manager of Scottish Premiership's Celtic F.C.
MLS Columbus Crew SC

Columbus Crew Reach Agreement for Wilfried Nancy to Become Manager of Scottish Premiership's Celtic F.C.

Published on December 3, 2025 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Columbus Crew SC News Release


COLUMBUS - The Columbus Crew announced today that the Club has reached an agreement with Celtic F.C. for Wilfried Nancy to become the Scottish Premiership side's manager for an undisclosed fee, given the Black & Gold had an active contract with Nancy. As part of the deal, assistant coach Kwame Ampadu, assistant coach and fitness coach Jules Gueguen and video performance coach Maxime Chalier, who were also under contract with Columbus, will join Nancy in Glasgow.

"Wilfried helped our Club accomplish so much over the past three seasons, and we'll forever be grateful for his passion and efforts to advance the Crew and Major League Soccer," said the Haslam, Johnson and Edwards families. "He led us to our third MLS Cup, first Leagues Cup championship and a Concacaf Champions Cup Final, and most importantly, his leadership further established a culture and commitment to success that will continue to positively impact our Club for years to come. While we strived to keep Wilfried in Columbus, he was clear that coaching Celtic is an important next step in his professional and personal journey, which we know firsthand will be 'limitless.''"

"It's been a pleasure to work with Wilfried for three years as we were able to achieve many great things together during his time at the Club," said General Manager Issa Tall. "Although we wish it was in future years, we recognize Wilfried's desire to test his skillset and philosophies outside of our league. We wish him the best at Celtic, and he'll always be a significant part of our Club's great history."

After being named the Black & Gold's eighth full-time head coach in December 2022, Wilfried Nancy led the Club to a 2023 MLS Cup title, the Leagues Cup 2024 championship and the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup Final. During his three-year tenure, Nancy - the Sigi Schmid Coach of the Year winner in 2024 and finalist in 2023 - posted a 49-23-30 record (0.628) in MLS regular season matches, 6-4-1 postseason (0.591) record and a 71-32-33 mark (0.643) across all competitions with the Crew. His overall record is 81-44-45 (0.609) in MLS regular season play and 7-5-1 (0.577) in the postseason, including his two years leading CF Montreal.

In his first season, Nancy directed Columbus to its third MLS Cup championship as it tied a then-franchise record with 57 points (third in the MLS Supporters' Shield); posted a MLS-best 67 regular season goals, their first time pacing the league in the category; and led the league and set Club standards in many major statistical categories for performance at home. On Dec. 9, Nancy became the first Black head coach to win MLS Cup with a 2-1 victory over LAFC.

In 2024, the Crew finished the MLS campaign with a franchise-record 66 points (second in the MLS Supporters' Shield) and set a franchise standard with 72 goals. Nancy also guided the Black & Gold to the franchise's first Concacaf Champions Cup final in Club history. During their CCC run, the Crew became only the second MLS side to advance to a final since 2008-09 after defeating a LIGA MX club in the Semifinals. The Club defeated Houston Dynamo FC in the Round of 16 (2-1 aggregate), Tigres UANL in the Quarterfinals (2-2 aggregate, 4-3 on penalties), and CF Monterrey in the Semifinals (5-2 aggregate), before falling 3-0 in the Final at Pachuca.

Columbus continued its tournament success in the summer of 2024, defeating LAFC 3-1 in the Leagues Cup Final on Aug. 25. The Crew became the first MLS club to play in three tournament finals in a span of nine months, winning both contests played at home (MLS Cup 2023).

The Black & Gold finished the 2025 regular season with 54 points, tied for fourth-most in the Club's 30-season history, while Nancy led the Crew into the postseason for the 19th time in Club history.

Nancy and his staff helped player development that resulted in forward Cucho Hernández being named the MLS Cup MVP and to the 2023 MLS Best XI - the first Crew player to earn the honor since Jonathan Mensah in 2020. Midfielder Aidan Morris was selected as a 2023 MLS All-Star and named to the 22 Under 22 presented by BODYARMOR list, while Steven Moreira was voted as the 2024 MLS Defender of the Year and joined Hernández's on the 2024 MLS Best XI. In 2025, midfielder Max Arfsten was selected as an MLS All-Star and Homegrown midfielder Taha Habroune was named to the 22 Under 22 list.

During Nancy's tenure, Max Arfsten (USA), Mohamed Farsi (Algeria), Steven Moreira (Cape Verde), Aidan Morris (USA), Jacen Russell-Rowe (Canada), Patrick Schulte (USA) and Sean Zawadzki (USA) earned their first senior caps with their respective national teams.

Nancy in 2022 led Montréal to a club-best regular season record of 20-9-5 (0.662). With 65 total points, Montréal finished second in the Eastern Conference and third in MLS, only two points shy of the Supporters' Shield winners. Montréal's 20 wins ranked second in the league, and his team finished in the top five for goals scored (63). Montréal went unbeaten in eight consecutive matches twice from mid-March to mid-May and from mid-July to late-August. They also posted an 11-1-3 record in the final 15 matches of the regular season. Nancy finished second in voting for the 2022 Sigi Schmid Coach MLS of the Year award, just one-10th of a percentage point behind the Philadelphia Union's Jim Curtin.

Under Nancy's tutelage, six players were named to Canada's final roster for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Nancy was hired as Montréal's head coach on March 8, 2021. In his first season, Montréal lifted the Voyageurs Cup with a 1-0 victory over Toronto FC in the Canadian Championship.

In 2011, Nancy joined Montréal's Academy and over the course of 10 years held head coaching roles for the U-18s (2011-13), the U-21s (2014), and the U-16s (2014-15) before being elevated to First Team assistant in January of 2016 prior to his promotion to head coach. He holds USSF Pro, UEFA A and Canadian Soccer Association A licenses. In 2014, he obtained the Elite Formation Coaching License (EFCL) diploma.

Born in France, Nancy had a professional playing career that spanned 10 years. From 1995-2005, the defender represented French clubs Sporting Club Toulon, Beaucairois, Raon-l'Etape, Ivry, Noisy-le-Sec, Chatellerault and Orleans.

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