Charlotte FC has hired Dean Smith to become the team’s head coach, the team announced officially on Tuesday.
Frank Lampard and Seattle Sounders assistant Freddy Juarez were also finalists, according to sources briefed on the club’s hiring process.
Smith was most recently in charge of Leicester City on a short-term contract until the end of the 2022-23 Premier League season, during which time he could not save the club from relegation. Before that he was manager of Norwich City, another job for which Lampard was reportedly also a finalist.
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Smith led Aston Villa to Premier League promotion in 2019 and remained with the club until November 2021. He began his managerial career with Walsall and Brentford.
Charlotte fired head coach Christian Lattanzio after the end of its MLS season. The club made the playoffs for the first time in their two-year MLS existence but lost 5-2 in the play-in round to the New York Red Bulls. With his hiring, Smith becomes Charlotte’s third full-time head coach at the start of their third season.
GO DEEPER
Charlotte FC's path forward after their first postseason appearance
(Photo: Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
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