Brooklyn FC tabs USMNT great Brian McBride as first GM

Posted October 21, 2025 2:58 pm

By Tom Bogert

Brooklyn FC has named former U.S. national team great Brian McBride as its first general manager, ahead of its inaugural season in USL Championship next year.

McBride, a Buffalo Grove High School alum, will also oversee the club’s women’s side, which is currently in its second season competing in the Gainbridge Super League, also a USL property.

It’ll mark McBride’s return to a front-office role after having previously been GM of the USMNT from 2020 through the 2022 World Cup.

“It was unique,” McBride told The Athletic of why he joined Brooklyn FC. “Their vision, what they’re thinking — the amount of impact I can have, not just on the sporting side, but on the organization really drew me to it.

“The vision is to build something the community will be proud of. Not just the soccer side. Having something where Brooklyn can go and call their own.”

With McBride leading the group, Brooklyn will now focus on hiring a head coach and filling the club’s inaugural roster ahead of its first match in March 2026. McBride says he expects the coaching search to go quickly and will work with that person to help build the first team squad.

The current USL Championship regular season is wrapping up this weekend before the playoffs start. The future of the league is exciting, with owners voting earlier this year to implement promotion and relegation in the future. In doing so, USL will be the first professional soccer league in America to take that leap.

“It’s a great situation for clubs — not great for owners, of course,” McBride said with a laugh. “It makes every game meaningful. MLS has their way and they’re doing great, but USL is committed to doing it (their way). It benefits the players. I experienced it in England and Germany. I think it’s a positive in the end.”

The league is still a ways from that happening and details still need to be finalized. The plan is for USL to implement pro-rel in 2028 when it launches a new first division.

Along the way, Brooklyn plans to get the club off and running to be ready for the next evolution of USL. McBride said the organization is working to secure preexisting training facilities for the near-term before hopefully building its own in the future. It also aims to have a functioning academy in the future.

For McBride, an all-time great USMNT forward who enjoyed a successful club career largely at Fulham, the Columbus Crew and Chicago Fire, Brooklyn is his first job working for a team since acting as GM of the USMNT through the last World Cup cycle. He feels his experience there will suit him well as he builds Brooklyn from the ground up. One of the players under his watch with the U.S., Tim Weah, was named part of Brooklyn FC’s ownership group back in May 2024.

“Those experiences were very beneficial,” McBride said of his time as USMNT GM. “I wanted to build something that felt like a family. Families argue at times, they have great times together, but everybody has the same goal. That’s my philosophy. That was the case during my time with the national team.”