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Swope Park, Popovic Mutually Part Ways

By USLSoccer.com Staff, 11/17/17, 11:48AM EST

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Serbian coach led club to USL Cup for second consecutive year in 2017


Photo courtesy Rio Grande Valley FC

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The 2017 USL Western Conference champion Swope Park Rangers and Head Coach Nikola Popovic have mutually agreed to part ways, the club announced on Friday.

Popovic served as an assistant coach during the Rangers’ inaugural 2016 campaign and took the head coaching role in 2017. This year he guided the club to a 17-8-7 regular-season record and its second consecutive Western Conference championship, making SPR the first team in the USL’s modern era to make consecutive appearances in the USL Cup.

“We appreciate Nikola’s service over the last two years,” Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes said. “At this club we are extremely supportive of people who are hungry and have big ambitions. If we can assist with those things, we are always going to do that. Nikola is embarking on some other endeavors, and we back him 100 percent. We are thankful for the time he has spent here.”

In his lone season as head coach, Popovic helped lead the Rangers to a fourth-place finish in the Western Conference. After emerging as conference champions, SPR fell just short of the league title with a 1-0 loss at Louisville City FC on Monday night in front of 14,456 fans at Slugger Field in the 2017 USL Cup.

Four SPR players earned Major League Soccer contracts with Sporting KC over the course of 2017, as defender Amer Didic, forward Kharlton Belmar and midfielders James Musa and Kevin Oliveira each made the jump to MLS. Popovic also fielded nine Sporting KC Academy products throughout the season, with former Academy players accounting for nearly 25 percent of the team’s playing time.

In addition to fostering on-field success and player development, Popovic deployed a possession-based playing style as SPR’s tactical approach mirrored that of Sporting KC. Much like its MLS parent club, the Rangers finished atop the USL charts in total passes per game and passing accuracy while also posting 11 shutouts with one of the league’s best defenses.

The 44-year-old Popovic, a dual citizen of Serbia and Portugal, began his coaching career in 2005. He made stops in Portugal, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, Spain, United Arab Emirates and Qatar prior to arriving in Kansas City. 

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