Sporting KC
Official: Raphael Wicky is Sporting KC’s new head coach
Sporting KC have their fifth all time head coach
It was previously reported, but Sporting Kansas City made it official on Monday. Raphael Wicky has been appointed as the club’s fifth permanent head coach in club history. The move is still pending receipt of his P1 visa. Sporting KC has signed Wicky to a two-and-a-half-year contract through the 2027-28 season, with a club option for the 2028-29 season and will report to President of Soccer Operations & General Manager David Lee.
“We are thrilled to welcome Raphael as the next head coach of Sporting Kansas City,” Lee said. “Rapha’s experience both domestically and internationally, along with his success at the highest levels of the game, made him the standout candidate during our search. He is a leader and a proven winner who will bring a humble, collaborative and hard-working approach to his role and strive to build strong relationships with our players and staff. Rapha’s teams are attack-minded, high-energy and possession-oriented – all qualities that represent the style of play we want to implement here in Kansas City.”
Wicky most recently coached Swiss power BSC Young Boys from 2022-2024. He led them to great success in his first season, winning the 2022-23 Super League and Cup double. In his second season, the club and Wicky parted ways after a three-game winless streak while the club was still on top of the table.
The new SKC leader started his coaching journey in his native Switzerland as a youth coach with FC Thun and Servette FC before joining Swiss giants FC Basel in 2013. He led the club’s U-18 and U-21 teams before stepping up to the first team for the 2017-18 season. He led Basel to a 29-11-9 record across all competitions and finished second in the Super League.
Raphael Wicky | Credit: Sporting Kansas City
He next coached in the United States for a time. Wicky lead the U.S. Under-17 National Team to a second-place finish at the 2019 Concacaf U-17 Championship. The U-17s were not successful at the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup. They were in a tough group but failed to advance. The lone goal scored by the U.S. was by Sporting KC Academy product Gianluca Busio. Wicky’s next stop was at the Chicago Fire in 2020 and 2021. Wicky stepped into a Chicago club that was struggling for years and was unable to turn them around during the tough Covid-19 seasons.
“I am very proud to be the new head coach of Sporting Kansas City,” Wicky said. “I am really excited to get started and get to know the team, the staff and the players. In my talks with David, we instantly had a good connection and felt very aligned in terms of culture and style of play. Sporting KC has always been a team that competed to win trophies and I feel that the club has all the ingredients to get back to where it belongs – great ownership, amazing facilities, a talented academy and a beautiful stadium with fantastic fans.”
The Leuggern, Switzerland native is 48 and is taking over another team that is struggling and in transition. He and David Lee have a huge job in front of them.
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So he’s been out of work for a while. This fits our club perfectly. It adds credibility to the idea we got whoever would take the job.
It’s a new perspective for the team. Our players had a bad year again. Nothing but upside right now. Players and coaches can grow. He’s gained a lot of experience since he left mls either way.
It’s not like anyone will be able to beat Miami this year. A full blind eye has been turned. They can just pay who they want, what they want. Only MLB team in mls.
I agree 1000%. How in the hell can they just sign all these world class players all the time. It’s a bunch of BS.
https://x.com/andrew_wiebe/status/2009304223851089934?s=46&t=IXMG4aPTUXGoijkW3I01Dg
Well, at the moment it won’t take long!
I don’t think was ever a chance of a “big splash” coach, because the team is just too irrelevant right now. This is a choice I’m willing to give a chance to. He really shouldn’t get dinged for his time in Chicago, that franchise was a dumpster fire when he was there. I’m assuming he doesn’t get the Celtic treatment and is actually given a long enough leash to give the job his best shot.
That being said, it would’ve been hilarious and awesome for the timing to have been right to snap up Nancy just in time to start dominating the new Midwestern Division in 2027, but oh well.
And we are not a dumpster fire?
SKC has been a dumpster fire but the David Lee hire changes the perspective on that. A guy that successful in NY does not come into a situation like this without a lot of assurances that ownership won’t kneecap him. Whether it’ll work, we don’t know, but this is not the same SKC era.
And yes, the Fire were even more dumpster-blazing than SKC in that period. Remember, Wicky was hired shortly after they announced that awful “Fire Crown” rebrand and was fired shortly after they backed down after a massive fan revolt. Not that Wicky had anything to do with the logo/rebrand, it just shows the out of touch idiocy of Fire management at the time.
I believe you described our ownership.
We don’t have enough fuel to be a dumpster fire. At worst, we’re a dumpster smolder
SKC’s dumpster fire burned bright, but yeah, went through most of its fuel at this point. Love the phrase dumpster smolder.
Andy Reid was washed when he left Philly. Ned Yost was sub .500 with the Brewers and was let go by them before coming to KC with the Royals. Both of them won titles here. I am willing to give Wicky a second chance here. Now, can we get him some players???
Great point. I think the prior experience in both MLS and Europe (and as both player and coach) are promising, too. We’ve seen so many foreign coaches come over and just not grasp how MLS works (and in fairness, the other way around too).
Evidently, he was a finalist for NYFC when Lee was hiring a coach there, so Lee has liked him. I’m not gonna denigrate the hire before play starts – or the roster is filled. Nancy would have been great though.
Andy Reid is a great argument for whoever hires Vermes, but I don’t see a resemblance to Wicky.
That’s valid. It was more a comparison of KC coaches who were coming off less successful stints arriving in KC and winning. But I see what you are saying
It’s a step in a direction, so there’s at least some sort of optimism. Is it the right direction? Time will tell…
However, it would have been nice to have a little bit of time before the new hire announcement and Nancy being let go…
If I’m being honest, it’s not an exciting hire, but I won’t pass judgement before we even see what he does. His pedigree is just very mixed and it doesn’t seem like he’s been with a team that’s rebuilding and seen success. But there are plenty of managers who have meh results and then turn things around when they find a place that is more flexible.
It’s hard not to be at least a little excited about this hiring. Now we (hopefully) get to see the plan unfold for the club’s future. I’m not expecting a massive turnaround this season, but I do expect to see the roadmap towards some hardware. Hopefully the rest of the week brings some more news.
I would also like to hear some type of supporter’s chant that sounds like a record scratch. “Wicky, Wicky.”
Maybe a Kriss Kross-themed one.
Coach – check
Substitute players – check
Starting quality player at each position – Heck NO
Come on SKC…get some players…good ones…pretty please.
Preseason is coming and for the 3rd year in a row, SKC has significant roster gaps. The more things change, the more they stay the same it seems. The season did end for SKC MONTHS ago…it has been MONTHS for Lee too.
I want to have faith and give grace to the new leadership, but we’ve been burned so many times by this team.
I get the negativity, but I’m not so sure it’s merited. He has done good things in the past. They just haven’t stayed good for very long. Let’s assume he’s grown and learned from that. OTOH, the guy was unemployed and it took us until now to sign him. Not signing a coach slowed down our player signsings and puts us seriously behind where we need to be as we head into camp.
Also, as to the Miami isn’t fair comments: Miami has great players and is signing more great players, while staying within the cap because they have the will to push it as far as it can go. Doyle does a good job of explaining this. We saw with Inga that SKC is seen as a “rare opportunity” by at least some well thought of players. We just aren’t pushing it in the way Miami is.Plus, no beach.
I’m trying to stay skeptically positive. If that’s even a thing. The club has needed something new for a while and we finally have it. Are there things I wish they were doing? Absolutely, but I’m still excited to see where this takes the club.
I read a rather cynical analysis of club ownership across the spectrum of sports leagues (take it for what it’s worth). As fans, we want to see wins, titles, hardware, etc. However, championships and profit are not always synonymous. The club is going to spend as little as possible to protect their profit. Until a club is in danger of losing money, they won’t spend any. The analysis used the Dallas Cowboys as a proof text. They haven’t won a title since the 90’s and they are not in a position where they have to outspend their brand recognition.
Well, it made sense to me anyway.