BREAKING: Peter Vermes OUT as Sporting KC Manager

In a shocking announcement, Sporting Kansas City stated they have “mutually agreed to part ways with Manager Peter Vermes” on Monday morning.

Vermes has been the coach of Sporting KC since he took the interim title on August 4, 2009. He was originally named the Technical Director in November of 2006. At the beginning of 2024, job titles changed, and he was named the Chief Soccer Officer.

The announcement comes amidst a historically bad run for the club, dating back to September 21, 2024. Sporting KC lost to Minnesota United and started an ongoing run of 13 consecutive games without a win, including a US Open Cup final loss, two CONCACAF Champions Cup losses and nine MLS league losses. The only non-loss in this stretch was the wild 3-3 come from behind draw, also against Minnesota back on March 15th.

The move was made less than 24 hours after the KC Cauldron and South Stand called for Vermes to resign.

Effective immediately, long-time assistant coach Kerry Zavagnin has been named as Sporting KC’s interim head coach.

In the statement release by the club, Vermes said, “It would be hard to list all of the people I want to thank after 20 seasons in managerial positions at Sporting Kansas City. I am thankful to everyone, especially ownership for giving me the opportunity of being a steward of this club for the past two decades. I wish the club nothing but the best in the future.”

Peter Vermes leaves quite the legacy in Kansas City. He was perhaps the driving force in the resurrection of the team as they rebranded from the Kansas City Wizards to Sporting KC. He was instrumental in the design of the Compass Minerals National Performance Center where SKC train and of Children’s Mercy Park, KC’s soccer specific stadium. He had his hands in all things Sporting KC.

Vermes also leaves having coached his team to the 2013 MLS Cup and 2012, 2015 and 2017 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup titles. The team made the playoffs in 11 of his seasons at the helm, including eight straight trips from 2011-2018. He also played for the then Wizards and helped lead them to the 2000 MLS Cup title.

According to the team, “Vermes coached 609 matches for Sporting in all competitions, more than half of the games in the club’s 30-year existence and the most ever for a manager at one MLS club.”

Vermes was the longest tenured manager in all of Major League Soccer. That honor now falls to Brian Schmetzer of the Seattle Sounders who became his team’s interim coach on July 26, 2016, nearly seven years after Vermes got his post.

The firing of Vermes comes just six games into the 2025 MLS season and in only year two of a five-year extension he signed with the club ahead of the 2023 season.

Sporting KC are back home on Saturday when they host cross-state rivals St. Louis City SC.

The KC Soccer Journal will bring you more on this story as it develops.