FC Cincinnati has extended the contracts of Head Coach Pat Noonan and General Manager Chris Albright, re-signing them both to long-term contracts.
They both joined in 2021 after FCC collected their third straight Wooden Spoon. They have since led FCC to two straight playoff appearances and the 2023 Supporters’ Shield. Although neither contract details were revealed, Albright’s prior contract was set to expire at the end of the 2024 season, with a club option for 2025.
Noonan has shined massively in his two seasons with FCC, obtaining a 63.4 win percentage in regular season play. According to the FCC news release, Noonan’s win percentage is the second-highest in a manager’s first two full seasons as a head coach in Major League Soccer history.
Since FCC hired Albright after the 2021 MLS season, he has been key in building FCC into one of the best clubs in MLS. His first move was hiring Pat Noonan from the Philadelphia Union. Alongside that pickup, Albright has helped FCC sign key players such as Obinna Nwobodo and Matt Miazga.
Last offseason Chris continued that good run of picking up key players, starting off by drafting starting goalkeeper Roman Celentano and picking up loanee Yerson Mosquera. Then, Albright helped FCC in the long term by giving extensions to Alvaro Barreal, Lucho Acosta, Roman Celentano, and Brandon Vazquez, while selling Brenner for a club-record fee.
This upcoming offseason could be even more important to the club’s future than some of the last few. FCC had a lot of talent but nobody to lead it in the past, but with Pat Noonan as Head Coach and Chris Albright as our General Manager that issue looks to be solved for the foreseeable future. Now, they most likely need to properly replace multiple top contributors, with Vazquez and Barreal having European teams vying for them. It’s good that FCC will have the man who brought the three-time-running Wooden Spoon winner into contention for the MLS Cup at the helm.
