Richie Williams named first coach of Loudoun United

This morning Loudoun United FC announced Richie Williams as the first head coach in team history. The former D.C. United midfielder was rumored to be one of the candidates by the Washington Post’s Steven Goff, who reported that Williams agreed in principle on a coaching deal Friday. Williams, along with newly official D.C. United Technical Director Dane Murphy and Loudoun chief operating officer Adam Behnke, will take questions from the press tomorrow afternoon.

Coaching Loudoun in Leesburg is a return to the area of sorts for the 48-year-old Williams: D.C. United formerly trained in the the vacated facility of the Washington Redskins in Herndon, 15 miles away and where Williams played 169 of his 216 career MLS games. After retiring from the Richmond Kickers in 2005, Williams moved to coaching as an assistant and interim coach with the New York Red Bulls. He joined the the United States men’s national team setup in 2011, first leading the U-18 team before moving up to the U-17 team in early 2012. He coached the team in the 2015 U-17 World Cup, where they were eliminated in group play, and Williams left soon after.

The United States job was his last as a head coach; Williams joined Real Salt Lake as an assistant under Jeff Cassar for the 2016 season and left after the season by mutual agreement as part of a staff restructuring, joining the United States Men’s coaching staff under interim coach Bruce Arena and staying on with caretaker manager Dave Sarachan.

Loudoun kicks off their inaugural season in 39 days at Nashville SC.