Craig Neil Harrington (born 20 December 1982) is an English football manager who most recently was director of coaching for Chicago Empire FC in the Illinois Women's Soccer League (IWSL). Between 2010 and 2013, Harrington worked as a coach at the

LA Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

Academy. In December 2013, he was named the technical Director and head coach of the Turks and Caicos national football team.

Career

Harrington was put in charge of the Turks and Caicos national football team ahead of the

2014 Caribbean Cup qualification The 2014 Caribbean Cup qualification began in May 2014 and ended in October 2014. The qualification competition determined which national teams could play in the 2014 Caribbean Cup which in turn determined which teams participated in the 2015 CONC ...

campaign. In 2018, Harrington became an assistant coach of

Chicago Red Stars Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chic ...

of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

. On 7 February 2020 Harrington was named the head coach of

Utah Royals FC The Utah Royals (formerly Utah Royals FC) are an American professional soccer team based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established on November 16, 2017, as an expansion team, ...

in the

. On 9 November 2020 the Salt Lake Tribune reported sources saying that Harrington was placed on leave after players complained he was being “verbally abusive,” a charge Harrington denied. Harrington and the club parted ways. In April 2021, former Red Stars youth affiliate Chicago Empire FC of the IWSL hired Harrington as its technical director. On 4 June 2021 Harrington was appointed as manager of

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...

in the

Liga MX Femenil Liga MX Femenil, also known as Liga BBVA MX Femenil for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in Mexico. Supervised by the Mexican Football Federation, Federación Mexicana d ...

. Harrington was immediately fired after the team was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Club Pachuca in May 2022. On 9 January 2023, Harrington was given a two-year ban from the NWSL for his abusive conduct in his coaching career, with future employment in the league conditional on meeting a set of requirements. Later in January 2023, Empire FC re-hired Harrington as an independent contractor for a role listed on its website as director of coaching, despite Harrington being suspended from youth soccer participation in Illinois by the Illinois Youth Soccer Association (IYSA) for the same period as the NWSL's suspension. IYSA investigated Harrington's employment upon learning about it, and after confirming it communicated on April 25 Harrington's disqualification to him, Empire FC, the IWSL, the

United States Youth Soccer Association The United States Youth Soccer Association (US Youth Soccer, abbreviated USYS) is the largest youth affiliate and member of the United States Soccer Federation, the governing body for soccer in the United States. US Youth Soccer includes 54 S ...

, and the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of soccer in the United States. It is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer ...

. Hours after a report published on 5 May 2023 in ''

The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports journalism department of ''The New York Times''. It provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories ...

'' publicized Harrington's employment at Empire FC, the Red Stars fired its general manager

Michelle Lomnicki Michelle Lynn Lomnicki (; born May 3, 1987) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a defender. Early life Born in Aurora, Colorado, to parents Pat and Sherri Wenino, Michelle attended Smoky Hill High School and played a ...

, who had been a staff coach for two girls' teams at Empire FC prior to being named the Red Stars's general manager in January 2023, and whose husband is Empire FC's sporting director. The Red Stars published a statement claiming Lomnicki was fired for a "lapse in judgment to not share important information with club leadership".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrington, Craig 1982 births Living people People from Hillingdon Sportspeople from the London Borough of Hillingdon English football managers LA Galaxy non-playing staff Expatriate football managers in the Turks and Caicos Islands Turks and Caicos Islands national football team managers National Women's Soccer League head coaches Chicago Red Stars non-playing staff Club América (women) managers Utah Royals FC head coaches Liga MX Femenil managers