The New England Revolution will be forced to make a new head coaching and sporting director hire.
Bruce Arena has resigned from both positions, the club announced late Saturday evening. Curt Onalfo will continue to serve as interim Sporting Director and Richie Williams will continue to serve as interim head coach to close out the 2023 season.
“After much soul searching, I have decided to resign my position as Head Coach and Sporting Director of the New England Revolution,” Arena said in a club statement. “To begin, I would like to thank Robert Kraft and Jonathan Kraft for providing me with this opportunity over 4 years ago. In my time with the Revolution, we have had much success and it truly has been a direct reflection of all the support the organization has provided me. In particular, I also want to thank all the players, coaches and staff at the Revolution as everyone has provided outstanding service and done a terrific job to help elevate the club to where it is today.
I also want to thank everyone in the soccer community at large for their tremendous support during the past 6 weeks,” Arena added. The investigation has been a hard and difficult process, for me and my family, but hearing from so many who have been part of my career truly has been gratifying and has helped make this decision easier.”
Arena had been removed as head coach temporarily on August 1 after he allegedly made ‘insensitive and inappropriate’ remarks. MLS released its own statement, noting that if Arena wished to pursue future employment in the league that he would need to first submit a petition to commissioner Don Garber.
Arena joined the Revs in May 2019 and compiled a 60-31-42 record in MLS play during his time as head coach. He led the Revs to a Supporters’ Shield trophy in 2021, which was the first time in club history that they completed that achievement.
The Revs sit second in the Eastern Conference on 48 points and are 13 points clear of the playoff line.