Vlatko Andonovski is back in the NWSL, with the Chicago Stars announcing on Thursday that he has been hired as the club’s chief soccer officer and will begin the role immediately. The appointment comes only 10 days after his time as sporting director of the Kansas City Current ended, and it delivers a significant boost to a Stars side currently bottom of the table.
Chicago have won just five games this season and also finished last in 2025. Their recent off-field record is similarly unsettled: Richard Feuz, hired as general manager in 2024, was fired earlier this year, while Martin Sjögren — the head coach Feuz brought in ahead of the 2026 season — was let go in August. The Stars are playing their home games at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and will stay there in 2027 while they pursue a new stadium downtown. An ownership consortium headlined by Chicago Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts bought the team in 2023 at a $35.5m valuation.
Andonovski’s departure from Kansas City came through a mutual contract termination announced in a tersely worded press release that described his sporting director position as “not the right fit”. The exit, and the manner of its announcement, drew surprise from around the NWSL, particularly given his long history in the Kansas City area. ESPN reported that several clubs across the league had inquired about bringing him on board as either a sporting director or a head coach, and he was considered by far the most coveted free agent on the NWSL market.
Born in North Macedonia in the former Yugoslavia, Andonovski moved to the midwest in 2000 as an indoor soccer player, turning out for the Kansas City Comets from 2001 to 2005 and later coaching the team. He then moved into the women’s game, guiding FC Kansas City to NWSL championships in 2014 and 2015. Two NWSL Coach of the Year awards came from his work as a head coach, and his success with FC Kansas City and with Reign FC in Seattle led to his appointment as head coach of the US women’s national team in 2019. His international spell produced a bronze finish at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and ended after a last-16 exit at the 2023 World Cup.
Later that year he was hired as head coach and sporting director of the Current, and in 2025 he led the club through one of the best regular seasons in NWSL history: 21 wins from 26 games and a 21-point lead at the top of the table, earning the NWSL Shield. The postseason told a different story, with the Current exiting to eighth-seeded Gotham FC in extra time in the quarter-finals. Last November, Andonovski stepped off the sidelines into a full sporting director role, with Chris Armas taking his place as head coach. Kansas City have struggled by comparison this season after the departure of several key players and currently sit seventh, two points clear of the playoff line.
Andonovski arrives in Chicago with a reputation for building trust with players and staff — a quality that carries particular weight in a league with a history of allegations of misconduct by coaches at the professional level.