Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | John Herdman [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | 19 July 1975 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Consett, County Durham, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Toronto FC (head coach) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hibiscus Coast | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Managerial career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2006–2011 | New Zealand (women) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011–2018 | Canada (women) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2018–2023 | Canada (men) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2023– | Toronto FC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
John Herdman (born 19 July 1975) is an English professional football manager who is the head coach of Toronto FC in Major League Soccer. He previously served as the head coach of the Canada men's national soccer team.
Herdman began coaching football at a young age in England, while he was a student and part-time university lecturer at Northumbria University. [2] He was a development coach for Sunderland's youth academy until 2001, when he moved to New Zealand. [3]
Herdman arrived in New Zealand and joined the national association football programme in 2003, initially acting as Coach Education Manager and later as the Director of Football Development. Herdman was head coach for the New Zealand women's national football team from 2006 to 2011. Working with the national women's teams, he led the U-20 squad to the World Championship in 2006 and the later renamed U-20 World Cup in 2010. He also guided the senior squad to the FIFA Women's World Cups in 2007 and 2011 as well as the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. [4] [5] [6]
During his time in New Zealand, Herdman played amateur football for NRFL Division 2 club Hibiscus Coast. [7]
Herdman took over for the Canada women's national soccer team in 2011 from Carolina Morace after Canada finished last in their 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup group. Shortly after, he led them to a gold medal finish at the 2011 Pan American Games in Mexico. [8] [9] [10] [11] He guided the team through the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament in Vancouver, Canada, securing one of two qualifying spots for the 2012 Olympic Games in London that summer, where they won the bronze medal. [12] [13] At the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada, Herdman guided Canada to a first place finish in their group, eventually getting eliminated in the quarter-finals, a 2–1 loss to England. [14] The team retained their bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
On 8 January 2018, Herdman was named head coach of the Canada men's national soccer team. [15] He "also becomes men's national director, with responsibility for all age groups from under-14s upward". [16]
In 2021, he guided the team up the FIFA World Rankings from 72nd to 40th, its highest position to date, to earn the team the honour of "Most Improved Side" of the year. [17] On 10 February 2022, he improved Canada to 33rd in the FIFA World Rankings. [18]
On 27 March 2022, he led the team to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, its first World Cup in 36 years, [19] becoming the first manager to have successfully led both the national women's and men's teams of a nation to qualify for a World Cup. [20] [21] Canada's first match of the tournament against Belgium on November 23 ended in a 1–0 loss, despite Canada dictating most of the play, and failing to convert any of their 22 shots, including a penalty shot. [22] [23] Four days later, Canada lost 4–1 to Croatia, despite scoring first, eliminating Canada from the tournament after two matches. [24] Canada were defeated 2–1 by Morocco in their final group match on December 1, finishing fourth in the group (and 31st overall in the tournament) with zero points. [25]
Following the World Cup, Herdman's team began struggling, which included a 2–0 loss to the United States in the 2023 CONCACAF Nations League Finals. The loss prompted Herdman to publicly criticize Canada Soccer for a lack of funding and resources. [26]
On 28 August 2023, it was announced that Herdman would depart the Canadian national team to take charge of MLS team Toronto FC, effective October 1. At the time of the announcement, TFC sat bottom of the Eastern Conference, with 3 wins from 26 games in the 2023 season. [27]
Herdman is originally from Consett, County Durham, England. [28] Herdman is married to his childhood sweetheart, Clare, and has two children: Lilly and Jay. The latter plays in the Vancouver Whitecaps development system, as well as the New Zealand U20 team. [28] [29]
Team | From | To | Record | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
New Zealand women's | 1 January 2006 | 31 August 2011 | 61 | 16 | 7 | 38 | 26.23 |
Canada women's | 1 September 2011 | 8 January 2018 | 109 | 62 | 14 | 33 | 56.88 |
Canada men's | 8 January 2018 | 28 August 2023 | 58 | 36 | 8 | 14 | 62.07 |
Canada under-23 men's | 8 January 2018 | 17 July 2018 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 25.00 |
Toronto FC | 10 October 2023 | Present | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 50.00 |
Total | 248 | 123 | 32 | 93 | 49.60 |
Canada women
Canada men
In Canada, soccer is the most popular sport in terms of participation rate; according to FIFA's Big Count, almost 2.7 million people played in Canada in 2006. Professional soccer in Canada is played in the Canadian Premier League and Major League Soccer. Canada also has many semi-professional and amateur soccer leagues. Canada's men's and women's national soccer teams are ranked 33rd and 6th respectively in the FIFA World Rankings as of February 10, 2022.
The Canada men's national soccer team represents Canada in international soccer competitions since 1924. They are overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association, the governing body for soccer in Canada. They have been a member of FIFA since 1948 and a member of CONCACAF since 1961.
The Canadian Soccer Association is the governing body for soccer in Canada. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, the federation is a full member of FIFA and governs Canadian soccer at the international, professional, and amateur levels, including: the men's and women's national teams, Canadian Premier League, youth organizations, beach soccer, futsal, Paralympic and deaf national teams. The Canadian Soccer Association also administers and operates the Canadian Championship.
Atiba Hutchinson is a Canadian former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. While playing in Denmark he won the Danish Super Liga Player of the Year, becoming the first North American player to receive the award. That same season, Hutchinson won the first of six Canadian Player of the Year awards. Between 2010 and 2013, he played for PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie.
The Canada women's national soccer team represents Canada in international soccer competitions. They are overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association, the governing body for soccer in Canada.
Christine Margaret Sinclair is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for the Portland Thorns of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and, from 2000 until her retirement from international soccer in 2023, was a member of the Canadian national team. An Olympic gold medallist, two-time Olympic bronze medallist, CONCACAF champion, and 14-time winner of the Canada Soccer Player of the Year award, Sinclair is officially the world's all-time leader for international goals scored for men or women with 190 goals, and is one of the most-capped international soccer players with 331 appearances.
The Mexico women's national football team represents Mexico in international women's football. The team is governed by the Mexican Football Federation and competes within CONCACAF, the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football. It has won three gold medals in the Central American and Caribbean Games and a gold medal in the Pan American Games, as well as a silver and bronze in the Women's World Cup prior to FIFA's recognition of the women's game. In addition to its senior team, Mexico also has U-20, U-17, and U-15 teams. The U-17 team reached the final of the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, and the U-15 cohort earned the bronze medal in the 2014 Youth Olympic Games.
Paul John James is a retired professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. He was a one-time CONCACAF champion who represented Canada at both the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games and 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. He later worked as a soccer analyst and soccer coach. He is an honoured member of the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame.
Kenneth Heiner-Møller is a Danish football manager and former player. He is the former manager of the Canadian women's national team. In 1994–1995 he played for Ferencvárosi TC in Hungary, where fans know him as Kenneth Christiansen.
Karina Chenelle LeBlanc is an American-born Canadian former professional soccer goalkeeper and current general manager of the Portland Thorns FC. She played for the Canadian national team and multiple professional women's teams in the United States over her fourteen-year career.
Carmelina Moscato is a Canadian soccer coach and former professional player. She is currently an assistant coach for Racing Louisville FC of the National Women's Soccer League. She played as a centreback for UPC Tavagnacco in the Serie A, for Piteå IF and Dalsjöfors GoIF in the Damallsvenskan, for Chicago Red Stars, Boston Breakers and Seattle Reign FC in the NWSL, and for Western Sydney Wanderers in the Australian W-League. She also represented the Canadian women's national team. She served as the Commissioner of League1 Ontario Women's Division from September 2019 until December 2020. She also served as the Director of Women's Football for the Bahamas Football Association.
Sophie Diana Schmidt is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for National Women's Soccer League club Houston Dash. From 2005 until retiring from international football in 2023, she was a member of the Canadian national team, with whom she won an Olympic gold medal in 2020 and bronze in both 2012 and 2016. She previously played her club soccer for German club FFC Frankfurt and Sky Blue FC in the NWSL.
Kadeisha Buchanan is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a centre-back for English Women's Super League club Chelsea and the Canada women's national team. Born in Toronto and raised in Brampton, Ontario, she is the youngest of seven girls in a single-parent home. Buchanan was only 17 when she made her debut for the national team on January 13, 2013.
Quinn is a Canadian professional soccer player and Olympic gold medallist who plays as a midfielder for National Women's Soccer League club Seattle Reign FC and the Canada national team. Quinn previously played professionally for Paris FC in France's top league Division 1 Féminine (D1F), Vittsjö GIK in the Swedish Damallsvenskan, as well as Washington Spirit in the NWSL. They were the first Canadian to play women's collegiate soccer at Duke University. Quinn previously represented Canada on the under-17, under-20, under-23 national teams.
Kailen Mary Iacovoni Sheridan is a Canadian professional soccer goalkeeper for National Women's Soccer League club San Diego Wave and the Canada national team. She previously played for Sky Blue FC / NJ/NY Gotham FC and played college soccer for the Clemson Tigers.
Jordyn Pamela Huitema is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for National Women's Soccer League club Seattle Reign FC and the Canada national team.
Shannon Elizabeth Woeller is a Canadian soccer defender who plays for Vittsjö GIK in the Damallsvenskan.
Julia Angela Grosso is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Serie A Femminile club Juventus FC and the Canada women's national team. She attained international prominence after scoring the title-winning penalty kick at the 2020 Summer Olympics, leading Canada to its first gold medal.
Beverly Priestman is an English professional football manager who is the current head coach of the Canada women's national team.
Jay Joshua Herdman is a professional soccer player who currently plays for Canadian club Whitecaps FC 2 in MLS Next Pro. Born in New Zealand, he has represented both Canada and New Zealand at youth level.