Racing Louisville has parted ways with head coach Kim Björkegren, with players expected to be informed in a meeting on Friday morning, multiple sources briefed on the matter told The Athletic. The sources were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the move publicly. Racing Louisville declined to comment on Thursday night.
Björkegren was the club’s second head coach since joining NWSL, hired in 2022 after holding previous jobs in his native Sweden, China and Cyprus. He oversaw a roster with many talented players, including United States internationals Savannah DeMelo, Jaelin Howell and Carson Pickett along with international stars Ary Borges, Abby Erceg and Nadia Nadim. Katie Lund turned in a 2023 season that saw her shortlisted for the league’s Goalkeeper of the Year award, as well.
Despite this and other strong individual performances, Louisville finished ninth in the NWSL table in 2023, the third time the club has finished in that spot in as many seasons. The team went cold in the final weeks with playoff qualification on the line, losing three of its final four games including a pair of defeats against teams that finished below them in the final table (Houston Dash and the Chicago Red Stars).
There is urgency for Louisville to put a…
