ST. LOUIS (October 1, 2021) – St. Louis CITY SC takes another major step towards building a best-in-class sporting department, naming John Hackworth as the club’s director of coaching. Hackworth is one of the most recognized American soccer coaches, with over 25 years of experience at various levels of the U.S. soccer landscape.
In his new role, Hackworth will support sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel in managing the club’s coaching development programs, working closely with the coaches to ensure the team’s sporting philosophy is maintained at all levels. Additionally, Hackworth will be responsible for managing and providing leadership to the club’s technical staff regarding St. Louis CITY’s playing style – which is a positively aggressive and entertaining offensive way of playing.
“It’s an honor to have this opportunity to join St. Louis CITY SC and be a part of building a world class club,” said St. Louis CITY’s Director of Coaching John Hackworth. “Once I got to know Lutz and his commitment to this project, I knew it was the place I wanted to be. From the top down, this is a club with a winning mentality and team first culture, so I’m excited for the chance to build on that.”
Hackworth has deep experience coaching teams at the highest levels of U.S. soccer and has successfully led three U.S. U17 Men’s National teams to FIFA U17 World Cup tournaments. In 2017, Hackworth guided the team to the quarterfinals of the tournament, where he coached St. Louis born forward Josh Sargent. Hackworth also was an assistant coach on the U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) in 2007, when the team qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and finished second in the 2009 Confederations Cup. In his most recent role, Hackworth served as the head coach and sporting director of United Soccer League (USL) team Louisville City FC, leading the team to the USL Championship title and guiding the team back to the finals a year later.
In Major League Soccer (MLS), Hackworth served as the head coach of the Philadelphia Union from 2012-14, after spending three years as an assistant coach, responsible for developing the club’s academy program.
“We are thrilled to have John join our club’s sporting department, as I’ll be working closely with him on overseeing the coaches and the development programs,” said Lutz Pfannenstiel, Sporting Director of St. Louis CITY SC. “He is an exceptional coach whose experience at the national team and MLS level makes him a perfect fit for this role. I’m confident that he will help us to achieve our goals, by using his knowledge and experience to make our players and coaches better, not just better professionals, but well-rounded people.”
