CHESTER, Pa. (January 24, 2024) – Philadelphia Union today announced that Tommy Wilson, Director of Academy and Professional Development, has come to an agreement with Charlotte FC to become their new Technical Director. Wilson, who has been with the Union since 2013, will join Charlotte FC as their Technical Director effective immediately.
“Under Tommy’s guidance, the Philadelphia Union Academy has continuously been named one of the best academies in the country,” said Philadelphia Union Principal Owner, Jay Sugarman. “He has helped us build a key pillar of our competitive strategy and successfully implement our “pathway to the pros” methodologies.”
According to Sporting Director Ernst Tanner, “Over the past two seasons, his newest role of overseeing not only the academy but the overall professional development of our club’s players has helped identify a number of significant players for our pro-player pathway, as well as solidify the club’s commitment to the development of youth in our pipeline.
In the past two seasons, Wilson played a key role in overseeing the signing of 17 players to MLS NEXT Pro contracts, including five from the Union Academy. His player development strategy has resulted in 38 players moving on to sign professional contracts and 18 players joining the Union as Homegrown players. Wilson contributed to talent identification and development, shaping the careers of Brenden and Paxten Aaronson and Mark McKenzie.
During his time in Philadelphia, Wilson’s efforts were recognized, with the Union Academy named the best Boys Soccer Club in the United States by SoccerWire.com. Additionally, the Academy received the highest overall rating in Major League Soccer from Double Pass, an organization collaborating with U.S. Soccer and MLS to assess and support club academies. In 2022, Major League Soccer honored the Philadelphia Union with the Academy of the Year award.
cheap
/CHēp/
adjective
adjective: cheap; comparative adjective: cheaper; superlative adjective: cheapest
miserly; stingy.
“she’s too cheap to send me a postcard”
I don’t understand this comment. Are you saying the Union are cheap because someone on their staff was able to get a promotion by moving to another club? By that logic, should they have replaced Tanner with Chris Albright so he didn’t leave?
As soccer gets more popular I notice that we get more and more brain dead WIP-quality comments all around the Union soccer sphere.
–
People need to be reminded that over the past 4 years the Union have the most points in MLS lol (according to a stat I heard late last season!)
–
Being cheap is always going to be a concern moving forward but so far the Union are a well run and mostly successful team. Why even follow sports if you are going to be so miserable in a situation like this?
James… these same people were unable to enjoy Joel Embiid scoring 70 the other night because three years ago he had a proclivity for cheeseburgers & milkshakes.
The Union may be cheap, but I doubt that has anything to do with Wilson taking a much more high profile job. From Academy Director to Technical Director seems like a no-brainer.
I hope the U have a replacement ready. This is a significant loss. Best of luck to TW.
A detail to add to the excellent summary in the post is that Wilson was part of a committee that addressed poaching from academies in the United States.
.
Before sometime in the late “20-teens” an overseas club could just scout and sign. Wilson was part of the effort to change that so that it became scout, sign, and pay at least a little something.
.
When Cavan Sullivan signs with whatever European club he chooses, the Union will get some variety of compensation based on the length of time he spent and the perceived quality of youth soccer in the United States.
.
Wilson played a role in making that change happen.
.
He was unfailing cordial and polite whenever I happened to meet him while observing a Union II practice.
.
It is a loss to Keystone Sports, but a real opportunity for him and comes after more than a decade of service in Philadelphia.
Perfectly said, Tim.