Pa-Modou Kah Departs Pacific FC; James Merriman Named Head Coach
Excerpts of the following story are from https://canpl.ca/article/pa-modou-kah-departs-pacific-fc-james-merriman-named-head-coach by CHARLIE O’CONNOR-CLARKE, DIGITAL CONTENT EDITOR (@CHARLIEJCLARKE) posted January 21, 2022.
Pacific FC announced on Friday that head coach Pa-Modou Kah has departed the club, with longtime assistant James Merriman to take over the reins on Vancouver Island.
Kah will be heading south of the border to join the organization of MLS club FC Dallas as coach of their MLS Next Pro side, North Texas SC. He leaves Pacific after two years with the club, having led them to a top-four finish in both seasons and delivering a Canadian Premier League championship in December 2021. Since his tenure began in January 2020, Pacific have won 21 games, drawn eight, and lost 14, across all competitions.
The 2021 season was particularly successful for Pacific under Kah, who was named the CPL’s Coach of the Year after his side finished third in the league table with a 13-6-9 record and then went on to win the North Star Shield by defeating Cavalry FC in the CPL Semi-Final and then Forge FC in the Final — both matches away from home. The Tridents also enjoyed a memorable run in the Canadian Championship, beating MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Starlight Stadium and Cavalry FC in Calgary, before going toe-to-toe with Toronto FC and falling in a close-fought semi-final.
“I’m very proud of what we accomplished this season with the championship,” Kah said in a statement. “We went through a lot as a team so I want to thank the players, the staff and the ownership. In my two years here we accomplished a lot so I will always remember my time here well.”
Kah, a former Norwegian international as a player, took his first head coaching gig at Pacific after several years as an assistant and academy coach at both the Whitecaps and FC Cincinnati in MLS.
“We all know that what Pa has done over the last two years has been nothing but phenomenal and we thank him for the passion and the commitment he’s brought to this organization,” said Pacific CEO Rob Friend. “Obviously he brought us the championship last year and I think we knew as an organization that Pa wasn’t going to be around for long.
For the remainder of the story by by CHARLIE O’CONNOR-CLARKE, DIGITAL CONTENT EDITOR (@CHARLIEJCLARKE) posted January 21, 2022 please go to: https://canpl.ca/article/pa-modou-kah-departs-pacific-fc-james-merriman-named-head-coach.