NWSL Announces 2019 Coach of the Year
Published on October 26, 2019 under National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) News Release
CHICAGO (Oct. 26, 2019) - Reign FC head coach Vlatko Andonovski has been voted the National Women's Soccer League 2019 Coach of the Year, the NWSL announced today.
"It was an emotional and challenging year for our team," said Andonovski. "But also a very satisfying year in that we dealt with a lot of adversity and many of our players performed at their best and gave their best efforts, which is all we can ask as coaches. Success is a team effort and individual awards are of course a reflection of the players and the entire organization, so I thank them, as well as our assistant coaches, our ownership and all the staff."
Andonovski, 43, did a masterful job of guiding his team to a 10-6-8 record and into the playoffs in 2019 while overcoming numerous injuries and absences due to the World Cup. The Reign held off the Washington Spirit and the Utah Royals to finish fourth and earn the playoff berth but fell to the 2019 Shield winner North Carolina Courage in the semifinal.
Andonovski has coached in all seven seasons of the NWSL and this is his second Coach of the Year Award after also being honored after the league's first season in 2013 when he was the coach of FC Kansas City.
Andonvoski joins Laura Harvey, currently of the Utah Royals, and Paul Riley of the Courage as coaches who have won this award twice but becomes the only coach to win the award with two different clubs.
Riley finished second in the voting and Richie Burke of the Washington Spirit finished third.
2019 Coach of the Year Voting Results:
COACH TOTAL FIRST PLACE VOTES
Vlatko Andonovski 52.8%
Paul Riley 27.1%
Richie Burke 20.1%
The voting was conducted from October 17-22 among players, media that cover the league on a consistent basis, fans and owners/GMs/coaches with the voting breakdown as follows: Fans (20%), Owners/GMs/Coaches (20%), Media (20%) and Players (40%).
List of NWSL Coaches of the Year:
YEAR COACH CLUB
2013 Vlatko Andonovski FC Kansas City
2014 Laura Harvey Seattle Reign FC
2015 Laura Harvey Seattle Reign FC
2016 Mark Parsons Portland Thorns FC
2017 Paul Riley North Carolina Courage
2018 Paul Riley North Carolina Courage
2019 Vlatko Andonovski Reign FC
National Women's Soccer League Stories from October 26, 2019
- Vlatko Andonovski Named NWSL Coach of the Year - Seattle Reign FC
- NWSL Announces 2019 Coach of the Year - NWSL
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