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Lucy Rushton will leave Atlanta United and join D.C. United as the organization’s new general manager, according to a report from Sportico.
BREAKING: @dcunited is hiring Lucy Rushton as its general manager, making her league's first female GM and second in major U.S. sports after @Marlins Kim Ng pic.twitter.com/TJVUb8z5Cw
— Sportico (@Sportico) April 12, 2021
Rushton’s move to the nation’s capital is a historic one, as she becomes the first female general manager in Major League Soccer history, according to Sportico. However, Grant Wahl tweeted the following:
Correction: The 1st female GM in MLS history was Lynne Meterparel of the San Jose Clash in 1999. Lucy Rushton, the new DC United GM, is the 2nd.
— Grant Wahl (@GrantWahl) April 12, 2021
D.C. United’s decision to hire Rushton is another move that Atlanta United’s Eastern Conference rival has made to restructure and refresh the club.
Rushton joined Atlanta United in 2015 as one of the clubs’ first employees, and became well known throughout the Atlanta United community for her role as a data analyst and her expertise regarding soccer analytics and scouting.
The following is an excerpt from a FIFA article published in 2020 about Rushton:
“My role involves both the objective, data side of things and doing the subjective things,” Rushton told FIFA.com. “I also watch and purely scout players with the mindset of identifying them and continuing to monitor and assess them and ultimately present them to Carlos [Bocanegra] or to the senior staff to make a decision if it’s a player we want to pursue.”
There’s no doubt Rushton played a vital role in the club’s success to date.
Best of luck, Lucy!