St. Louis CITY SC has found its new head coach ahead of the 2026 MLS season.

Yoann Damet has been hired to the position, the Western Conference club announced Tuesday. Damet spent the last three years as an assistant coach under Wilfried Nancy with the Columbus Crew and was a member of the Crew’s winning MLS Cup (2023) and Leagues Cup (2024) teams.

He also served as interim head coach of FC Cincinnati on two separate occasions.

“Yoann has all the attributes we were looking for in a manager and aligns closely with the vision and direction we have for this team,” said St. Louis CITY SC Sporting Director Corey Wray. “He has invaluable experience working with some of the best teams and coaches in the league that I am sure will help him get the best out of our players. Yoann is ambitious, competitive, and does an exceptional job communicating his soccer ideas, but most importantly he values people and relationships. Having worked together before, we already share a foundation of trust which I think will be beneficial as we move the team forward.

“On the field, he will build on the club’s intense, high-work-rate identity while adding a more proactive, ball-focused dimension to our style which will give us the best chance to be consistently competitive and entertain our fans,” added Wray.

The 35-year-old Damet brings nearly two decades of coaching experience at both the professional and youth levels to the helm. In addition to his roles with FC Cincinnati and the Columbus Crew, Damet also served as an assistant coach under Greg Vanney with the LA Galaxy.

Prior to his roles in MLS, Damet held various youth coaching roles in France with Beaune FC, Jura Sud Foot, and Dijon.

“I’m honored to be joining CITYS SC and really looking forward to getting to work with the team and building a high-standard environment that represents the fans and this city,” Damet stated. “I want to thank the ownership group, Diego, and Corey for the trust they’ve shown in me. This is an ambitious club, and we’ll work extremely hard every day to be competitive and play an entertaining style of soccer the fans and supporters can relate to and enjoy.”

St. Louis CITY SC failed to make the MLS Cup Playoffs in each of the last two seasons, despite topping the Western Conference as an expansion team in 2023.