New York Red Bulls announce departure of Academy Director David Longwell

In a brief statement the night before what may well be their last game of 2018, the New York Red Bulls announced (now former) Academy Director David Longwell had left the club. Comments attributed to Sporting Director Denis Hamlett were just about the sum total of the official announcement:

We thank David for his contributions, but we have decided to part ways. I will continue to oversee our academy operations and we will have an announcement on a new academy director shortly. Developing players in the tri-state area and providing opportunities to Homegrown players continues to remain a top priority for our club.

The timing of the announcement is a little curious: RBNY has rather more pressing matters to attend to at the moment. The brevity - no description of Longwell’s achievements, nor suggestion of why he might be moving on - might also be considered notable.

Longwell was appointed RBNY Academy Director in mid-August 2017: 18 months after Bob Montgomery vacated the position. Longwell leaves the Academy a little over 15 months after he arrived, meaning he didn’t quite outlast his immediate predecessor, (position vacant).

The Academy didn’t fold during it’s last period under the directorship of an empty chair, so every reason to believe it will continue under the familiar leadership of no one at all until the next Director is appointed.