CHESTER, Pa. – His business cards might change, but everything else will remain the same.
Either way, Philadelphia Union manager Peter Nowak is honored to have a new title next to his name: executive vice president of soccer operations.
“I’m very thankful for the trust they’ve put in my hands,” Nowak said at a press conference Wednesday from PPL Park, shortly after the news was made official. “It’s a great honor to be in this kind of position. As we did last year, we want to build our structure bigger and better.”
Nowak, who joins Dave Debusschere and Dave Rowan as the club’s executive vice presidents, will continue to oversee all personnel and activities involving the first team and youth academy – just as he’s done since being hired May 29, 2009.
“The expansion of the title for him is really reflective of everything we’ve done in the past few years,” said Union CEO and operating partner Nick Sakiewicz, specifically pointing to the expansion of the club’s youth development system, the launch of the reserve team and adding Diego Gutiérrez to the technical staff.
“All of this expansion of technical soccer operations – Peter oversees all of this for us and is helping me build it,” Sakiewicz continued. “It’s just appropriate to add him to the senior staff.”
Still, Nowak, the only person who’s won MLS Cups as both a player and a coach, maintained his main responsibility is managing the club. This week, he’s been preparing the Union for a tough road game against the LA Galaxy.
“Nothing changes really,” Nowak said. “I’m still the team manager. That’s my primary job. I’m going to be on the sideline and I’m still going to coach the team as I did before. It’s just some of the logistics – my opinion and voice can be heard. It’s a great sign of our structure and I believe I’m in a great position to help the team move forward.”
