Miami Football Club Appoints Paul Dalglish as Head Coach

The Miami Football Club announced on Thursday that is has chosen to hire Paul Dalglish as its new head coach. Dalglish, who replaces Alessandro Nesta as the second head coach in the history of the club.

CEO of the Miami FC, Sean Flynn stated that “Paul brings an extraordinary pedigree and knowledge of the game to Miami FC”. Flynn elaborated on his comments adding,

“His playing and coaching experience from Europe and North America at multiple levels will have an immediate impact on our club. Paul shares the vision of what we want to accomplish as a club and I’m excited for the brand of football we will see on the pitch this season.”

Paul Dalglish is the son of Kenny Dalglish, who played forward for Liverpool and hails from Scotland. Dalglish has a successful footballer career in both the Scottish Premiership and Premier League before moving to the MLS in 2006. While playing with the Houston Dynamo in the MLS, he twice won the MLS Cup, once in 2006 and the other in 2007.

After leaving the field as an active player in 2009, Dalglish began working with the Houston Dynamo Academy and then moved on to coaching on 2010 with FC Tampa Bay. In 2010, he moved on to the Austin Aztex, who under his direction made it to the 2012 Conference Finals and the following year, won the league championship. That same year Dalglish was awarded the PDL Coach of the Year before moving on to the assistant coach position in 2014 for the Real Salt Lake. In 2015, he returned to the Aztex before being named the head coach of the Ottawa for two seasons.

Dalglish hopes to continue Miami FC’s success from last season. The club has a record season in 2017 making it to the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals. They won the Spring Season Championships and the NASL Fall Championships and were the overall points leader in the NASL. After losing in the Championship Semifinal to the New York Cosmos as a result of a penalty kick, Alessandro Nesta agreed to part ways with the club leaving the position open and the subsequent hiring of Dalglish.

Dalglish commented on his hiring that he is delighted to be joining the Miami FC. He added,

“It is an organization I have admired from afar and to now to be working within in it is an honor. The time spent with Riccardo Silva and Sean Flynn has left me convinced that this is the perfect team for me to continue my coaching journey with and I am confident I can continue to build on the wonderful job that Alessandro, his staff and the players have done so far.”