Earlier today, Juan Carlos Amorós was named head coach of Gotham FC. The 38-year-old Spaniard replaces interim head coach Hue Menzies, who was always intended as a stop-gap after the club parted ways with Scott Parkinson in August. Amorós is signed to a three-year contract.
Gotham finished the NWSL season in last place, with just 13 points taken out of 22 games played. The final record for Gotham was 4 wins, 1 draw, and 17 losses, with just 16 goals scored and 46 goals allowed. It was the worst showing in club history.
Amorós was most recently the interim head coach of the Houston Dash, which finished the 2022 season in fourth place. The Dash made it as far as the first wound of the NWSL Playoffs, where they lost at home to finalists Kansas City Current. Amorós joined the club on July 12, 2022, and complied a record of 6 wins, 3 draws, and 2 losses.
Before leading the Dash, Amorós was the head coach of Real Betis Féminas and Tottenham Hotspur FC Women. He was named Women’s Champions League Manager of the Year in 2019, when he was the head coach of Tottenham Hotspur.
Amorós will need to lead Gotham through a comprehensive rebuild if the team are to compete in the NWSL next year. The squad looked strong on paper at the start of the season, but the chemistry between the players never developed on the field, and the team consistently came up short in goalkeeping, defense, midfield, and the attack.
Here is the complete statement from Gotham FC:
HARRISON, NJ: NJ/NY Gotham FC announced today that Juan Carlos Amorós has been named the club’s new Head Coach. The 38-year-old, Amorós, who last season led the Houston Dash as their interim head coach to a fourth-place finish and the team’s first-ever NWSL playoff appearance, has been signed by Gotham FC to a three-year contract.
“I’m proud to have this opportunity to work with the players and staff on building Gotham FC into the club this community and our incredible fans deserve,” said Amorós, a native of Madrid, Spain. “The players will know they have a coaching staff who teaches and listens, and we will always work together to create an exciting brand of football for our fans. I cannot wait to get started and show our fans what Gotham FC will be, and I’m determined to lead this club to become a global destination in the football world.”
Amorós brings a wealth of experience across global soccer to Gotham FC, having served as a head coach of clubs in the top leagues in Spain, England, and the U.S. Prior to his stint in Houston, Amorós was coach of Real Betis Féminas from 2021 – 22 and led them to a club-record unbeaten streak in Spain’s top division.
Before Real Betis, Amorós enjoyed enormous success as a coach in England. Over five years, he helped lead Tottenham Hotspur FC Women from the third tier in England to the FA Women’s Super League. In 2019, Tottenham was promoted to the Super League after finishing second in the second-division FA Women’s Championship League. He earned Manager of the Year honors that season, and won the same honor while coaching Tottenham Hotspur in the third-division FA Women’s National League.
In the 2022 NWSL season, Amorós began his tenure as interim head coach of the Houston Dash on July 16 with a 4-1 win over Chicago. He led Houston to a 6-3-2 record as the club earned the first playoff berth in its nine-year history.
“Juan Carlos is an experienced and ambitious coach who is highly respected by players for his tactical knowledge and leadership,” said Gotham FC GM and Head of Soccer Operations Yael Averbuch West. “He shares a strong belief in our vision for Gotham FC, and we are very excited to bring him to NJ/NY.”
Amorós holds a UEFA PRO license – the highest-level UEFA license attainable – and received a diploma in Football Management from the League Managers Association Institute of Leadership and High Performance. He has also participated in elite coaching courses with the Royal Spanish Football Federation, and in 2018 earned a Master of Business Administration from Autonomous University of Madrid.
