Sporting KC hires former Young Boys coach Raphael Wicky

Sporting Kansas City announced on Monday that the club has hired Raphael Wicky to be the team’s next manager.

Wicky, 48, replaces Peter Vermes, who was fired back on March 31 following a poor start to the 2025 season. Sporting Kansas City was managed on an interim basis by Kerry Zavagnin for the remainder of the campaign.

Wicky inherits a side that finished in last place in the Western Conference with just 28 points from 34 matches. That led to the hiring of David Lee as sporting director.

“I am very proud to be the new head coach of Sporting Kansas City,” Wicky said. “I am really excited to get started and get to know the team, the staff and the players. In my talks with David, we instantly had a good connection and felt very aligned in terms of culture and style of play.

“Sporting KC has always been a team that competed to win trophies and I feel that the club has all the ingredients to get back to where it belongs — great ownership, amazing facilities, a talented academy and a beautiful stadium with fantastic fans.”

Wicky last managed Swiss side Young Boys from 2022-24, a period where he led the club to a league and cup double during the 2022-23 season. The former Swiss international has also managed FC Basel, the U.S. U-17 national team, as well as the Chicago Fire FC from December of 2019 to September of 2021, a spell that coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since his departure from Young Boys, Wicky has been linked with a series of jobs, including those of Rangers FC and Middlesbrough FC.

A source also told ESPN that Wicky was a finalist for the New York City FC job last year that eventually went to Pascal Jansen.

“We are thrilled to welcome Raphael as the next head coach of Sporting Kansas City,” Lee said.

“Rapha’s experience both domestically and internationally, along with his success at the highest levels of the game, made him the standout candidate during our search. He is a leader and a proven winner who will bring a humble, collaborative and hard-working approach to his role and strive to build strong relationships with our players and staff. Rapha’s teams are attack-minded, high-energy and possession-oriented — all qualities that represent the style of play we want to implement here in Kansas City.”

As a player, Wicky enjoyed a successful career, enjoying spells with Sion starting in 1993, as well as Werder Bremen, Atlético Madrid, Hamburg SV, and Chivas USA.

At the international level, Wicky appeared 75 times for Switzerland.