For the first time in over ten years, there will be a new face at the touchline when Philadelphia Union faces Orlando City SC for their MLS season opener on Saturday, February 22, at the Inter & Co Stadium. Bradley Neil Carnell will stand where Jim Curtin stood for a decade as Union’s head coach. Under Curtin’s leadership, Union won the Supporters’ Shield in 2020 and reached the MLS Cup Final in 2022. However, this wasn’t enough to keep Curtis at Subaru Park, and now Union is in the hands of former South African international, Carnell.
Below are four things to know about Philadelphia Union’s new head coach.
1. Teenage prodigy
Carnell started his professional soccer career shortly after his 16th birthday when he signed for Wits University in 1993, becoming one of the youngest players to play top-flight soccer in South Africa.
Although Carnell credits the then Wits University coach Terry Paine with giving him a chance at professional soccer, he nevertheless had to earn his stripes, saying, “He [Terry Paine] put faith in the youngster. I was eager and willing to learn. I was ambitious and hungry for success.
2. Part of South Africa’s first-ever FIFA World Cup win in 2002
Carnell represented South Africa at all international levels in U17, U20, and U23 and made his Bafana Bafana debut on June 4th, 1997, when South Africa hosted the Netherlands at the annual Nelson Mandela Challenge.
He would go on to be a permanent feature in Bafana Bafana, earning 42 caps, and was part of the team’s first FIFA World Cup win ever, beating Slovenia 1-0 in Group B’s matchup at the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan.
3. Successful career in Germany
After five years in South Africa’s Premier Soccer League (PSL), Carnell spent the rest of his career in Germany before returning to South Africa for a brief stint with Supersport United. He plied his trade with Bundesliga’s VfB Stuttgart from 1998 to 2003 before joining VFL Borussia Mönchengladbach and later Karlsruher Sport Club. After that, he played for Hansa Rostock before returning to South Africa in 2010 and retiring in August 2011.
While with VfB Stuttgart, Cornell was part of the team that won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2003. That same year, the team was the runner-up in the Bundesliga, playing second only to Bayern Munich.
4. Transition to coaching
Six years after his retirement, Carnell joined the New York Red Bulls as an assistant coach in 2017 under Jesse Marsch, who left a year later to become an assistant coach at the Austrian Bundesliga’s Red Bull Salzburg. When Marsch left, Christopher Armas was promoted to head coach but fired two years later due to abysmal results. On September 5th, 2020, a day after Armas’s firing, Carnell was named the interim coach for the rest of the season. He led the team through 14 matches, winning 6, losing 3, and drawing 5.
In January 2022, he took the helm at St. Louis City SC but was fired on July 1, 2024, amid his second season there. In September of that year, he was an assistant coach for Canada’s men’s national soccer team. A few months later, on January 2nd, 2025, he was named head coach of the Philadelphia Union.
Carnell has expressed optimism and hopes of glory at Subaru Park, saying, “Philadelphia is an amazing city, built on communities of hardworking and passionate people who truly love their soccer. I am excited for this opportunity to build upon an already solid foundation and aim to help raise the Union organization to the next level that our fans and city can be proud of.”