Former Scarlet Knight Peter Vermes Guides Sporting KC To Open Cup
Sep 20 | Men's Soccer
Scarlet Knight All-American Leads Team To Fourth Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup In Six Years
KANSAS CITY, KAN. - Former Scarlet Knight Peter Vermes, head coach of Sporting Kansas City, led his club to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday night for the fourth time in six years after defeating the New York Red Bulls, 2-1, at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.
SPORTING KC ARE YOUR 2017 LAMAR HUNT U.S. OPEN CUP CHAMPIONS! #GottaHaveThatCup #WeTogether pic.twitter.com/bOcXofaGmk
— #GottaHaveThatCup (@SportingKC) September 21, 2017
Now in his ninth season as Sporting Kansas City's manager, Vermes is the longest tenured manager in the MLS in addition to the club's all-time winningest coach and the sixth winningest coach in MLS regular season history. He is also the only person to win the MLS Cup as both a player and a coach with the same team.
Vermes' Sporting KC teams have won four major trophies. In addition to Wednesday's title, he has also guided Sporting KC to the 2012 and 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups, as well as the 2013 MLS Cup Championship,
Competing for the Scarlet Knights from 1985-87, Vermes earned First Team All-America honors and was runner-up for National Player of the Year. His name is still found in the Rutgers record books ranking seventh all-time in points (89), eighth in goals (35), 10th in assists (19) and second in game-winning goals (15). Vermes was inducted into the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998 and was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2013.
Following his time at Rutgers, Vermes represented the United States at the 1988 Summer Olympics, the 1990 FIFA World Cup and the 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Vermes was the first American to play in the Hungarian and Dutch First Divisions, appearing for Raba ETO and FC Volendam and later spent five years with Figueras of the Spanish Second Division.
In 1996, Vermes was drafted by the New York/New Jersey MetroStars in the third round of the MLS Inaugural Draft (29th overall) and captained the team in its first season. He also played three years for the Colorado Rapids, including an appearance in the 1997 MLS Cup Final, before being traded to the Kansas City and winning the 2000 MLS Cup. He retired from the playing field in 2002 after appearing in 184 MLS matches and playing more than 16,000 minutes.
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