It has been an offseason of puzzleing events, players released, coaches added, trades, draft selections MLS wide, and a rebrand out of the Windy City. Now the Fire have made a very good move in tapping Frank Klopas as an asst. to new coach Raphael Wicky's staff. He is a major part of Fire history and has been tied to the team and MLS since the word go back in 1996.
Wicky informed "I'm very pleased to have Frank join our coaching staff. He has been an integral part of the Fire since its very beginning. His passion for the Club and his knowledge of the league will be extremely valuable for our staff and players. I look forward to working with him."
Frank first arrived with his hometown team in 1998 as a player, then onto Head Coach, Technical Director, Team Ambassador and Broadcaster for 22 years. The accolades bestowed upon him by the club are not limited to an MLS Cup, Lamar Hunt US Open title, both in that first year, inclusion in the Ring of Fire in 2004 as well as enshrinement into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame in 2018. He stated "My heart has always been with the Fire. I'm honored to join Raphael's staff and I'm excitied for the future of the club."
Klopas has a stellar soccer history, over 290 pro games in the US & Greece, 50 Fire games 1998 - '99, 39 games and a dozen goals for the USMNT 1987-'95, partaking in the 1998 Olympics, 1994 World Cup & 1995 Copa America. He came to the Fire in its first year of 1998, spearheading their "Double", MLS Cup, then 2 days later the GWG in a 2-1 win over the Crew for the Open Cup. 1999 had him retire and for 2000 he was the asst. coach for the Fire, then Technical DIrector 2008-'11, moving to the 6th HC Nov. 3, 2011, the first former player as HC. Frank got them to the US Open Cup Final and MLS Playoffs.
Off to the North and the Montreal Impact in Dec. 2013 as their HC, during his tenure 2013-'15 they took a Canadian Championship in 2014, the Concacaf Champions League Final 2014-'15, then back, in the booth at Chicago from 2016-'19 as their color analyst.
The bilingual English & Greek USSF A License holder is ready to go for 2020 on Mar. 1 at Seattle, facing the current MLS Champs.