Scott Parkinson out as NJ/NY Gotham FC head coach

Gotham made the move after losing six of their last seven games

Scott Parkinson is no longer NJ/NY Gotham FC’s head coach.

Amid a season that has started to unravel for the club, Gotham—who have lost six of their last seven games—announced Thursday that they and Parkinson had agreed to terminate their relationship, with an interim head coach to be named in the near future.

Parkinson’s time with Gotham ends with the club in 11th place in the 12-team NWSL, with a 4W-0D-8L record. His overall mark during a nearly year-long tenure was 8W-8D-11L, and includes guiding the team to its first-ever NWSL playoff appearance.

“General Manager Yael Averbuch West and club leadership will begin a methodical process of identifying and interviewing a talented and diverse pool of candidates to serve as head coach for the 2023 season. An interim head coach will be announced shortly,” said Gotham in a team statement announcing the change.

Since a 3W-0D-2L start to the regular season, Gotham has struggled at both ends of the field. Aside from the aforementioned run of results, they’ve been shut out in five of their last seven games, have the fewest goals scored in the league (nine), and have suffered multi-goal losses in half of their 12 regular season games. At home, they hold a 1W-0D-4L record, and their -15 goal difference is the worst in NWSL.

That’s in contrast to 2021, where Parkinson stepped in for Freya Coombe after she was hired away from Gotham by Angel City FC. Gotham went unbeaten in their final seven games to secure a playoff berth for the first time in the team’s NWSL history, something Parkinson noted in a personal statement posted to his Twitter account.

Gotham’s coaching staff at the moment consists of assistant coaches Bev Yanez and Becki Tweed, and goalkeeper coach Brody Sams. The team heads west to face OL Reign, who hold the sixth and final playoff spot, this Sunday.

[lawrence-related id=5885,5419]