January 7, 2010 MEET THE NEW COACH Red Bulls name Backe as their new coach
Erik Soler picked Hans Backe as the Red Bulls' new coach. Photo courtesy of the Red Bulls
The Red Bulls announced Thursday they named Swedish native Hans Backe as the club's 13th coach in the team's 15-year history.
Backe, who has almost three decades of European coaching experience, will retain assistant coach Richie Williams, who was interim coach after Juan Carlos Osorio resigned in August, and goalkeeper coach Des McAleenan. Jeremy Holsopple also will join the staff as the team’s strength and conditioning coach, the team announced.
The Red Bulls will introduce Backe to the local media at a later date.
“I have followed Hans’ career for many years and I think he will be an excellent coach for this team," Red Bulls general manager and sporting director Erik Soler said in a statment. “Hans brings a vast amount of experience from a variety of different clubs in Europe and he has been a fantastic mentor for many young and established players. We are confident that he will be able to help our club accomplish our goal of competing for a MLS Cup.
“I am pleased that Richie Williams and Des McAleenan will remain with the club. They are both important to the success of the organization with their depth of player and league knowledge.”
Backe, 57, said he was looking forward to coaching the Red Bulls.
“I am extremely excited to join the Red Bulls,” he said in a statement. “It is evident with the stadium and the resources available that Red Bull is very committed to making this club the best in Major League Soccer. I hope that I can bring my expertise to the club and build a winning squad for our supporters.”
Backe enjoyed success in a number of European leagues, capturing four Danish titles with FC Copenhagen (2000-01, 2002-03 and 2003-04) and Aalborg BK (1998-99). He also won the Danish Cup in 2004 and the Danish Super Cup in 2001 and 2004 with Copenhagen. Backe was with Aalborg from 1998-2000 and headed Copenhagen from 2001-05.
He joins the Red Bulls after a short stint with English League Two side, Notts County. Prior to Notts County, Backe worked as an assistant manager at Manchester City in the English Premiership with former England National Team manager, Sven-Goran Eriksson, from 2007-08. Backe joined Eriksson’s staff when Eriksson became the Mexican National Team head coach on June 3, 2008.
Backe started his career with Swedish club, Djurgardens IF, before moving to other major teams in Scandinavia including Stabek, Hammarby IF, Osters IF and AIK. He has also coached at SV Salzburg and Greek Super League team, Panathinakos.
Backe played professionally for a number of Swedish clubs, including AIK and IF Brommapojkarna. Backe also worked as a soccer analyst and commentator for Swedish TV4 and was an advisor to Osters IF.
