U.S, Soccer has announced the hiring of Matt Crocker as the federation’s new sporting director.
The 48-year-old will replace Earnie Stewart, who left U.S. Soccer in January to take a role with Dutch power PSV.
Crocker joins from Southampton, where he is currently serving as the club’s director of football operations. Prior to that, he spent seven years as the head of England’s youth international teams for both men and women.
“I’m really honored and excited to join U.S. Soccer as sporting director,” Crocker told reporters on Tuesday. “The immediate focus is supporting where I can the women’s World Cup team as they get ready for Australia and New Zealand… Leading the search for the next men’s coach is an opportunity I’m excited about.”
Per U.S. Soccer, Crocker will not start on a full-time basis until August 2 (which is to say, one day after the U.S. women’s national team finishes its group stage slate at the World Cup), but “will immediately begin the process of hiring the head coach of the Men’s National Team and supporting the U.S. Women’s National Team general manager Kate Markgraf and USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski.”
Crocker’s first, and arguably biggest task in his new job will be hiring a permanent U.S. men’s national team head coach ahead of a home World Cup in 2026.
Anthony Hudson is currently serving as an interim but has repeatedly said he’s not looking for the full-time gig. Gregg Berhalter is out of contract, but U.S. Soccer has said he remains a candidate after he was forthcoming in an investigation about the details of a 1992 domestic violence incident.
Who is Matt Crocker?
Crocker began his career at Cardiff, where he served as a development coach for the club’s youth teams, before taking on a role at Southampton overseeing the academy setup. During his first tenure with the Saints, players like Gareth Bale, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Luke Shaw and James Ward-Prowse came through the club’s academy.
The Welshman bolstered his reputation during his time with the FA between 2013 and 2020, where he oversaw U-17 and U-20 World Cup wins for the men’s team in 2017 and helped establish an overall playing and coaching strategy called the “England DNA.”
He then returned to Southampton where he’s overseen the men’s, women’s and youth teams for the Saints. The women’s team has won back-to-back promotions over the last two seasons.
U.S. women’s national team general manager Kate Markgraf will report to Crocker, while it is still unclear if U.S. Soccer will hire a USMNT general manager to replace Brian McBride, who departed along with Stewart in January.
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