Sporting KC's Peter Vermes gets five-year extension

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Feb 23, 2023

About to enter his 15th season as its manager, Sporting Kansas City's Peter Vermes was given a five-year contract extension through the 2028 MLS season.

Vermes, the longest-tenured head coach in MLS history, has led Sporting Kansas City to four major championships — MLS Cup 2013 and Open Cups in 2012, 2015 and 2017—and 10 playoff appearances, fourth most by a head coach in MLS history.

He is the league’s fourth-winningest coach all-time with 183 regular-season victories and third among active head coaches behind only Bruce Arena (New England Revolution) and Bob Bradley (Toronto FC).

“Peter is a superlative strategic thinker who loves to win and hates to lose,” said Mike Illig, Sporting KC co-owner and executive director, in a statement. “He continuously demonstrates his commitment to our ownership’s objective to elevate Sporting KC as a perennial contender in a league that grows tougher and tougher every year. He is also fully dedicated to our long-term strategy of developing young, high-potential players into the next generation of Sporting professionals. Over the last 14 seasons, Peter has earned the recognition and respect of many across soccer regionally, nationally and throughout the MLS community. We trust that his intrepid leadership will help bring more titles to this club and city.”

Sporting KC is coming off an 11-16-7 season in which it finished 12th in the Western Conference and 23rd in the overall MLS standings, its lowest finishes in its history.