United Soccer Coaches announced on Thursday the induction of former longtime Seattle Sounders Head Coach Sigi Schmid into the 2021 Hall of Fame class. He joins Joe Palone of the United States Military Academy and Horst Richardson of Colorado College, and all three will be inducted during the United Soccer Coaches Digital Convention from Jan. 11-15, 2021.
“The newest honorees in the United Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame enjoyed lengthy and distinguished careers, not only as winning coaches, but coaches enriching the lives of players while serving the greater good of the game,” said Kevin Sims, United Soccer Coaches President. “The stellar collection of inductees into the Hall of Fame is enhanced greatly by the presence of legends Joe Palone, Sigi Schmid, and Horst Richardson.”
Schmid is the all-time winningest manager in Major League Soccer history. He finished his illustrious career with a record of 240-183-125, spanning 19 seasons with the LA Galaxy, Columbus Crew and Seattle Sounders. He won MLS Coach of the Year twice, two MLS Cup titles, three Supporters’ Shields and five U.S. Open Cup trophies, as well as three NCAA titles with UCLA. MLS named the annual MLS Coach of the Year award after him in 2019. He is also a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
“Sigi was certainly a mentor to me,” Sounders Head Coach Brian Schmetzer said on Friday. “He’s certainly deserving of all the recognition he’s accumulated over the years and is the winningest coach in MLS history. Sigi was a great man, he was a great coach, treated me very fairly. I have nothing but good things to say about Sigi.”
Schmid passed away on Dec. 25, 2018. He was 65.
