Sporting Kansas City mutually part ways with Peter Vermes | OneFootball

By MLSsoccer staff

Sporting Kansas City have mutually parted ways with longtime manager Peter Vermes, the club announced Monday morning.

Vermes was the longest-tenured head coach in MLS and one of the longest-serving managers in global soccer, having taken over his role in 2009.

Kerry Zavagnin has been named interim coach after being an assistant on Vermes' staff.

"It would be hard to list all of the people I want to thank after 20 seasons in managerial positions at Sporting Kansas City," Vermes said in a statement.

"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."

End of an era

This decision followed Saturday's 2-1 loss at FC Dallas, which extended the club's winless streak (all competitions) to 13 games, dating back to September 2024.

Sporting KC are currently last in the MLS standings with a 0W-5L-1D record.

The club has missed the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs in two of the last three seasons, though they reached the 2023 postseason as the Western Conference's No. 8 seed after overcoming a 10-game winless streak to open the campaign.

Vermes is the second MLS manager to leave his role this season, after CF Montréal parted ways with Laurent Courtois last week.

What now?

Zavagnin, a former Sporting KC player and US international, takes over on an interim basis as the club look for their first win of the 2025 season.

SKC's early-season struggles follow an active offseason highlighted by the arrival of Dejan Joveljić from the LA Galaxy in the first cash-for-player trade in MLS history. The club also acquired fellow Designated Player Manu García and winger Shapi Suleymanov, both from Greek top-flight side Aris Thessaloniki.

Other key players include Dániel Sallói, Erik Thommy and homegrown Jake Davis.

Sporting KC icon

Vermes' relationship with Kansas City began as a player in 2000, when the former USMNT defender helped lead the club to the MLS Cup-Supporters' Shield double that year.

A 2013 U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame inductee, he joined SKC's front office in 2006 as technical director before assuming head coaching duties three years later.

As manager, Vermes guided Sporting to the 2013 MLS Cup title and three US Open Cup championships (2012, '15, '17).

His 203 regular-season wins rank third all-time in MLS, while his 511 regular-season matches coached are the third-most in league history. Vermes' 17 seasons as Sporting manager were at least seven seasons longer than any other active MLS head coach.

Vermes coached 609 matches for SKC 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. He was also the longest-serving head coach in Kansas City professional sports history.