Wilfried Nancy named head coach of CF Montreal, team to start season in Florida

After overhauling their name and look, CF Montreal have announced their latest adjustments — a new coach and a new temporary home.

The club announced Monday that former assistant coach Wilfried Nancy has been promoted to the top job. He takes over from Thierry Henry, who resigned last month citing family reasons.

"I'm not going to lie — soccer, football, it is my passion," Nancy told reporters Monday. "For me, this is a good step."

Montreal also announced it will open the season playing home games in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., because of border restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nancy, a 43-year-old Frenchman, has been an assistant coach with the first team since 2016, and said he wants to build on what the group accomplished last season.

Montreal finished the regular season with a 8-13-2, good for ninth spot in Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference. The club — known as the Montreal Impact before a rebrand in January — made the playoffs for the first time since 2016, but was eliminated by the New England Revolution in the play-in round.

'We're going to be a good team'

The team established a style of play last year, Nancy said.

"We will continue that style of play," he said. "We're going to be a good team, proactive, dynamic and we will be able also to put produce on the opposition."

Working under Henry — formerly a marquee striker with Arsenal in the English Premier League — was an illuminating experience, Nancy said.

"I worked with a champion," he said. "Thierry was a star as a player and I understood why he was a star,."

Henry was a demanding coach who found it hard to accept that players would make mistakes, but he also set a strong example for the team, Nancy said.

"For me, it was good to learn from Thierry about the desire to win and the desire to succeed," he said. "This is the first time that I can see that close to me."

CF Montreal announced on Feb. 25 that Henry was stepping down after a single season as the club's head coach.

There was a lot of interest in the job from people across Europe and North America, sporting director Olivier Renard said. While he declined to say who else was considered, Renard added that the pandemic wasn't an obstacle in the hiring process.

What set Nancy apart from other applicants was his determination and his familiarity with the club, Renard said.

"I know his philosophy, I know what he wants to do for the club. And the club knows also what he makes the last 10 years of the club," he said.

"It's not only we gave him the chance, he deserved the chance also."

While's Nancy's contract is for one year, Renard said in French that the new coach doesn't have a sword hanging over his head.

Nancy said he understands the situation and is OK with it.

"I have to do my job now as a coach to go forward," he said.

Experience developing young talent

Before joining the first team as an assistant coach, Nancy worked as a coach in the club's academy system.

His experience developing young talent is part of what makes Nancy a good fit for the head coach role, Renard said.

"One of the best qualities of Wil is his communication with young guys," he said. "We need that."

Assistant coaches Kwame Ampadu and Laurent Ciman, goalkeeper coach Remy Vercoutre and fitness coach Jules Gueguen will complete Nancy's staff.

The newly minted coach and his team opened training camp in Montreal last week, but will soon make the move to a warmer locale.

Club to play in Fort Lauderdale

The club announced Monday that it will begin its season in Florida, playing at Inter Miami CF Stadium in Fort Lauderdale and using Inter Miami CF's facilities for daily training.

CF Montreal is set to move south on April 6 and plans to play two pre-season games in Florida before the MLS season begins on April 17.

The club will have ample Canadian company in the Sunshine State. The Raptors, Blue Jays and Toronto FC are all playing in Florida due to border restrictions and the Canadian national men's soccer team also will play a home World Cup qualifying game in the state.

The restrictions forced all three Canadian MLS teams to move south last season. Montreal finished out the year in Harrison, N.J., sharing a stadium with the New York Red Bulls.