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Jamath Shoffner (born July 10, 1978) is an American soccer coach and former player who is head coach for Challenger Pro League club K.V. Oostende. He is one of only a few American coaches to hold a UEFA Pro Licence. A defender and midfielder, Shoffner played for German club Borussia Neunkirchen and Luxembourg side UN Käerjéng 97.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | July 10, 1978 | ||
| Place of birth | United States | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender, midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2001 | Carolina Dynamo | 5 | (0) |
| 2002–2003 | Borussia Neunkirchen | 15 | (0) |
| 2003 | Virginia Beach Mariners | 6 | (0) |
| SV Weil | |||
| Avenir Beggen | (2) | ||
| 2009–2010 | UN Käerjéng 97 | 15 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2005–2008 | Montreat College | ||
| 2011–2014 | Wayland Baptist University | ||
| 2015–2017 | Luxembourg (assistant) | ||
| 2017–2018 | Luxembourg U19 | ||
| 2019–2020 | Virton | ||
| 2021–2022 | Jeunesse Canach | ||
| 2022 | Charlotte FC (assistant) | ||
| 2023-2024 | F91 Dudelange | ||
| 2024– | K.V. Oostende | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Playing career
editShoffner attended University of North Carolina at Charlotte from 1996 to 2000 and helped the Charlotte 49ers men's soccer program to the College Cup Semi Finals and to a #2 NCAA Division 1 National ranking.
His professional playing career started in the League of Ireland Premier Division for Shelbourne. He joined Shelbourne F.C. right after the club qualified for the Champions League. He made his home debut in a friendly against Manchester United.
Shoffner also played at Borussia Neunkirchen in Germany, where he helped the club capture the Saarland Pokal.
After a few short forays in the US, he ended his playing career in Luxembourg where he played in the BGL League for Avenir Beggen and UN Kaerjeng. At Kaerjeng, he started both of their Europa League matches.
Coaching career
editShoffner began his European coaching career in Luxembourg, where he coached for various youth national teams. He was then the assistant coach for the Luxembourg Senior national team during World Cup qualifying. He was then a part of the staff for the USA U20 national team during the 2019 World Cup in Poland, where players such as Timothy Weah, Sergino Dest, and Chris Richards headlined the team.
He then went on to be an assistant coach at Virton in Belgium under Dino Toppmöller.
After Virton, Shoffner was named the head coach of Jeunesse Canach in Luxembourg where he led the team from the relegation zone to a top 10 finish, 4th highest ranking in the 2nd round of the league, and ended the season with an eight match unbeaten streak.
After the season, Coach Shoffner then joined the staff at Charlotte FC in the MLS under Christian Lattanzio.
He became the head coach for F91 Dudelange in the Luxembourg National Division. In the 2023 season, he led the team to three wins in the Europa Conference League, defeating St Patrick's Athletic both home and away. With a budget reduced by nearly 40% and the loss of numerous starters from the previous year, Dudelange finished the first half of the 2023 season sitting in second place after rattling off an eight match unbeaten streak with five consecutive league matches without conceding a goal. They also defeated 1. FC Kaiserslautern 1–0 in a friendly match during this time.
On January 15, 2024, Shoffner moved to Challenger Pro League club K.V. Oostende from Dudelange.[1] Three days later, he led his new team to a cup stunt, against Belgian top-tier side RWD Molenbeek in order to clinch a Belgian Cup semi-final berth, for the second time in club history.
References
edit- ^ "Jamath Shoffner est le nouvel entraîneur d'Ostende" [Jamath Shoffner is Ostend's new coach]. RTL Info (in French). January 15, 2024. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
External links
edit- Jamath Shoffner at soccerstats.us
- Jamath Shoffner at Soccerway
- Jamath Shoffner at WorldFootball.net