The Utah Royals hired Kelly Cousins (née Chambers) as their first sporting director, the team announced in a news release Tuesday. Here’s what you need to know:

Bringing in top talent from across the pond.

Welcome, Kelly!

— Utah Royals (@UtahRoyalsFC) July 18, 2023

What they’re saying 

“I am really looking forward to bringing my knowledge and experience to build a roster, a culture and most importantly a place that gives players everything they need to be able to perform at their best,” Cousins said in the release.

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“Kelly is truly a Swiss army knife of soccer operations — from sporting side strategic planning and squad management infrastructure building, to scouting and recruitment, to coaching, to everything in between — she has done it all. Even more importantly, getting to know Kelly on a personal level and seeing her skillset as a collaborator has been a joy. We could not be more excited to welcome her family to our Utah community,” Utah Royals FC president Michelle Hyncik said.

Backstory

During her time at Reading, Cousins led the club to the Women’s Super League and guided the team to a fourth-place finish in 2017-18. The following season, the team finished fifth and reached the FA Cup semifinals along the way.

The Royals were an NWSL team from 2018 to 2020, but folded and moved to Kansas City in December 2020 after former owner Dell Loy Hansen was ousted by both the NWSL and MLS after The Athletic reported on his racist behavior and a toxic culture at the Royals and RSL.

Required reading

(Photo: Ben Hoskins / Getty)

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