FC Cincinnati General Manager Chris Albright has been named MLS Sporting Executive of the Year, the league announced today. The award is given annually to one MLS club’s Chief Soccer Officer, General Manager, or head sporting executive.
Albright joined FC Cincinnati as General Manager in October 2021, and in just one offseason, hired Head Coach Pat Noonan and his staff while rebuilding the roster into a playoff contender in 2022 and MLS Supporters’ Shield winner in 2023.
The technical staff, under his leadership, added key players to the club, beginning with Roman Celentano, the second overall pick in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft. Albright and his team also identified and signed 2023 Defender of the Year Matt Miazga, Designated Player standouts Obinna Nwobodo and Aaron Boupendza and added experienced MLS veterans and promising young talent.
Albright has negotiated contract extensions for MLS All-Star Álvaro Barreal, MLS Best XI and All-Star Brandon Vazquez, and club captain and 2023 Landon Donovan MLS MVP Luciano Acosta. He also orchestrated the club-record transfer of Young Designated Player Brenner to Udinese this past summer.
Under his leadership, FC Cincinnati have produced four MLS Best XI players in two seasons (Acosta and Vazquez in 2022 & Acosta and Miazga in 2023) as well as five MLS All-Stars (Acosta and Vazquez in 2022 & Acosta, Barreal and Miazga in 2023) in two seasons. This year, FC Cincinnati captured the Supporters’ Shield for the most points in the MLS regular season and advanced to the Eastern Conference Final in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.
FC Cincinnati earned a number of individual honors, including MLS Defender of the Year Matt Miazga, Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year Pat Noonan, and Landon Donovan MLS MVP Luciano Acosta.
This past October, Albright signed a long-term contract extension to remain the club’s General Manager into the future.
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