Minnesota United CEO Chris Wright To Step Down After 2021 Season

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minnesota United's CEO Chris Wright will step down after this season, the club announced Monday.

"This has been an amazing period in my own professional journey, as I started my career in soccer and have ended it helping build a club that I love, in a community that I love," Wright said in a statement.

The England native, who started his Minnesota soccer career with the Strikers of the now defunct Major Indoor Soccer League, joined United in 2017. According to the team, the plan was always for Wright to have a short stint as CEO.

"We jointly set the timeline for Chris at three to four years – a period that would allow us to establish the foundation of our club in this great community and within a highly competitive sports market," managing partner Bill McGuire said. "A new home for the team in Saint Paul stood at the top of our to-do list, but the work included addressing many challenges that were necessary to establish Minnesota United as a going concern. They have been successfully met."

During Wright's time as CEO, Minnesota United opened its new stadium, Allianz Field, in St. Paul. So far this season, the team has a 4-5-3 record.

Before joining Minnesota United, Wright was with the Timberwolves and Lynx for almost three decades, serving as president of the teams for the last 13 years of his tenure.

The team said it expects to name a new CEO within a month.