Sporting KC
Sporting Kansas City Release Gavin Wilkinson
Following a turbulent week of negative reaction from the fan base, Sporting Kansas City announced they have released Gavin Wilkinson from his newly-hired position as Sporting Director.
In a statement released Friday, Sporting Kansas City owner Mike Illig said that the club mutually agreed with Wilkinson on his release, explaining that it was the strong response from fans which led them to this decision.
“We ran a diligent and exhaustive process to identify our new Sporting Director. It was grounded in the deeply-held principles and standards we have adhered to since the day we acquired the team.
That said, the impassioned response from our fans reinforced to us a fundamental philosophy that has driven us since Day One: To honor and protect our valued relationships. It is in that spirit that we take this action today, reflective of our abiding appreciation for our unrivaled SKC fans and our Kansas City community.”
Gavin Wilkinson was named as Sporting Kansas City’s new Sporting Director just last Thursday, January 11. Previously a member of the front office for both the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns, Wilkinson had been mentioned in Sally Q. Yates’s report on misconduct and sexual abuse in US Soccer, with allegations of advocating for former Portland Thorns head coach Paul Riley to be hired as head coach of the Western New York Flash, despite Riley’s termination from the Thorns as a result of misconduct. There was also a mishandling Andy Polo’s domestic violence case, which led to a fine from Major League Soccer. Wilkinson was eventually fired by the Portland Timbers following the release of the Yates report.
The hire drew immediate backlash from supporters, with multiple season ticket holders publicly threatening to cancel their tickets. The Cauldron released a statement following the hire that they had approached the front office conveying fans’ displeasure and the Ladies of SKC called the Wilkinson move “a slap in the face.”
Supporters Groups released statements affirming the decision to release Wilkinson following the announcement from Sporting Kansas City.
— The Cauldron (@KCCauldron) January 19, 2024
— South Stand SC (@SouthStandSC) January 19, 2024
From an on-field perspective, there is no word yet on whether the club will seek another Sporting Director. In the move last week, Peter Vermes was named Chief Soccer Officer and Manager. Brian Bliss continues as Technical Director & Vice President of Player Personnel.
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Took too long, never should have happened, but still I’m so relieved this is over for now.
I honestly thought no change was coming, but am incredibly proud of and thankful for the fans that kept their resistance up and made their concerns heard. Thank you to all of you who continued to raise your voices, and especially The Ladies of SKC who were never afraid to speak up and start organizing from the beginning.
Cautiously optimistic for this season and improved fan-club relations.
Gotta admit I’m still pretty cynical. The ownership/management that made this choice is still there. Same guys who have been degrading the relationship with fans for years. I’m not at all convinced they come out of this thinking “oh, we’ve learned an important lesson and had better humbly change our ways and be nicer to fans now”. If they were capable of that, this wouldn’t have happened because they would already have recognized the relationship needed repair and re-engagement. Instead, in the course of a week they stepped on small (Arrowhead) and Paul-Bunyon-sized (Wilkonson) rakes in their continued arrogance.
So I still really don’t know how to feel about the upcoming season. None of which should take away from the astonishing fact that a fan revolt actually accomplished something like this.
Hence why I said I’m cautiously optimistic. It’s too soon for me to judge how sincere this change was. They finally listened and did right by their supporters, so I will give the club time to gain trust back and foster goodwill.
After reading through these comments, maybe I’m wrong for wanting to exercise caution and give some time to see how the club moves forward. I want to be clear that at no time have I felt the ownership group has handled this well at all, including this statement. I’m sorry if I implied otherwise or that I think his firing is all that needs to be done.
I’m not back to business as usual like a lot of people are expressing across SM; I’m still not even sure I’ll be watching. But—like most women—I am unfortunately well versed in how issues of sexism, violence, and disregard for women require time and patience to see real, meaningful change take place. I’m not happy about this situation, but firing Wilkinson was the necessary first step. And hopefully just that: a first step.
I also don’t want lip service from Illig or anyone. I want to see real change and accountability with fan relations and organizational behaviors. That can’t happen overnight to truly have meaning and impact.
Speaking just for myself, I didn’t take anything you said that way, and I wasn’t intending any reflection on anyone else’s path. I’m just trying to openly grapple with how I approach this year. I don’t want to bail in protest and then get sucked back in if the season goes well, and I don’t want to happily go back to cheering like none of this ever happened. I’ve built up a deep familiarity with SKC players as a group and enjoying watching them play and develop operates in a sort of parallel universe with how I feel about ownership/management. I’m relieved they made this decision so as to at least help keep that rooting-interest window open.
Well, we’ll see how the next few days go… especially since the Athletic just updated their story with multiple sources confirming that Wilkinson was NOT a candidate recommended by the hiring firm (Nolan Partners) after all. If true, the club straight up lied, making the initial announcement an even bigger cluster than it already was. Now if that is proven to be true (with Nolan Partners wanting to clear their name if so) I can see the club having to make some serious staffing changes.
Geez, I see that now. Kinda sketchy for TA to quietly slip that juicy nugget into the original story with no notification of the update, especially since it changes the tone of the story quite a bit. Looks like it’s causing confusion in the comments.
That’s even more despicable. Their consultancy found a whole bunch of qualified people and they ignored them all to go with PV’s buddy and his history? Then they lied (or at least misdirected) by trying to pass the decision off on the consultancy? This is exactly why I’m still struggling with how to approach this season; the decision-makers at this club are becoming ever-more unpalatable to me.
This is how I feel too. I don’t want to turn my back on the team, but supporting it definitely doesn’t feel the same anymore either. It’s different from the way I feel about the Chiefs because this isn’t players behaving badly, it’s the organization itself. And this isn’t making me feel better about PV either. It’s just such horseshit. There was no real upside to this hire. It’s so DUMB! How do you actively support dumb?
I’m 100% with you. I’m struggling with my path forward with SKC. Do I continue to be a fan? PV continues to challenge me to stop watching or supporting. Perhaps, he will win that battle this year.
Thank goodness he’s gone. He never should’ve been here, but at least the team listened to the backlash, although it’s rather unfortunate that the staff that hired him continues to run the team. I’m hopefully optimistic for the beginning of the season, because even if the team plays terribly, at least they aren’t employing an abuse enabler
If this were true, Illig, he wouldn’t have been hired in the first place. In fact, he wouldn’t have even been considered as a serious candidate.
Make no mistake, the credit for this decision goes 100% to the supporters. I am not proud of our owners, but I sure am proud of the SKC community.
This is what is preventing me from being able to fully celebrate the decision. This really feels like ownership saw the impending business impact (supporters committing to stop financial support of the club) and only then decided to attempt a course correction. I haven’t read or heard anything that suggests the Club is attempting to right a moral/ethical wrong. It’s the right outcome, but potentially for the wrong reason.
Ironically, SKC leadership are now in a position where they need to ask for a second chance. To do that, they first need to understand and accurately identify what they did wrong, and then work to learn & grown from it.
And if there was any truth to this statement, they should have long ago come out and presented some sort of evidence as such & refuted the details of the reports.
The bottom line for me is – SKC leadership got it wrong with the hiring, and they haven’t clearly demonstrated that they understand how/why they were wrong when they reversed the decision.
My connection with fellow supporters is strengthened, but my connection to the club is still wavering.
Kind of a repost but Mike illig basically said the quiet part out loud. This was a business decision and, apparently, running a business means not worrying about alienating your customers.
Over the past few years, I’ve grown incredibly cynical of those in power (political or corporate) and felt very disenfranchised by decisions. It feels like we have no ability to affect change through our voices. But this is proof that there is still power in voicing opinions. I’m very thankful to all of the supporters who raised their voices in opposition to this and to the many people on this website who continued to write about it. This gives me some hope that the owners are not completely disconnected from the fans of this club and I’m glad that they listened.
Yes, the ownership group (eventually) did the right thing but the announcement felt disingenuous with a tone of “you the fans did this”. IMO it lacked accountability/taking ownership (not even an “oops, my bad!”).
I see today’s announcement as acknowledgement they’re hemorrhaging season ticket members and are attempting to halt the exodus. Yes, I know SKC is a business, but it smacks of being a purely financial decision.
#BeBetter #Where’sRobbH?
Totally agree. And I think SKC (as well as many other organizations that make a mistake) completely underestimate the power of a genuine apology. Imagine if their statement had said something like this:
“We pride ourselves on having deeply-held principles and standards. Unfortunately, in this instance we lost sight of our values as a club and made an error in judgment. We greatly appreciate the impassioned response from our fans, which helped to reinforce to us a fundamental philosophy that has driven us since Day One: To honor and protect our valued relationships. We sincerely apologize for all of the distress caused. Furthermore, we look forward to earning back the support and trust of the best fanbase in all of MLS.”
When you own a mistake, people will respect you for it. It’s that simple, it really is. But as you said, this statement doesn’t feel like taking accountability at all. And perhaps we’re being cynical, but given the recent track-record of the club I feel that cynicism is warranted.
Agreed, their statement reads more like a cross between a hostage video and a Vermes middle finger to the critics.
Beautifully put! I’m putting this on the podcast, because I think you nailed it.
I’m starting to think the problem is Mike Illig. He isn’t the only one, but maybe a major one.
Appreciate it, thanks!
Fairly sure Robb sold most of his stake in the club and is barely involved anymore
Here are my questions for what comes next:
How does the organization demonstrate its long-term commitment to valuing women and girls who are fans, employees, or in the Sporting Club network? This is the remediation, now what is the repair work?
If this was the guy Vermes could work with amongst a pool of 14 vetted candidates, will the organization back off on this position? If Illig is committed to unloading Vermes, this position is needed. Will they be able to fill the position in a constructive way?
What is the long term impact of this for player and front office recruitment? Maybe some players and front office will see an organization that wants to win at any cost, but I suspect this will give pause to a fair number as well, which is not a competitive advantage.
All good questions, and additionally – What did they learn from this? What have they learned about their decision makers, and decision making processes?
If they could go back, how would they have handled the hiring process differently, overall? How would they have handled the investigation into GW and review of that investigation differently?
Need to know that they have learned/are learning…and hopefully not just hiring a PR firm to help them talk about how they promise to do better in the future.
Apparently, Wilkinson wasn’t even on the list presented by the hiring firm? Or he wasn’t recommended? I’m seeing different wording that makes it a little unclear:
“He was not along the candidates that were identified and presented by Nolan Partners”
“…Sporting made the decision to hire Wilkinson based on prior relationships…”
This organization is crap. Firing Wilkinson or not, I’m seeing it all the same.