HARRISON, N.J. – Red Bulls II has named Gary Lewis as its head coach, the club announced Monday.

Lewis joins the USL Championship team after serving as the Seattle Sounders’ Academy Director since February 2020.

“Gary has a tremendous amount of experience, having worked at some of the best clubs and academies in both the U.K. and U.S.,” Red Bulls Academy director Sean McCafferty said in a statement. “He has worked closely with the first and second team staff at every club he has worked with and has a proven track record of developing and preparing top young players for first team football.”

The Liverpool, England, native began his coaching career at the Liverpool FC youth academy, working with the Under-6 to U-9 teams. He transitioned to Everton FC in 2006 as he served as the head coach of the U-13 squad. Two years later, Lewis returned to Liverpool to become the head of their youth development program.

In 2014, Lewis moved to the United States and was named the national director of coaching at The Football Club USA. There, he oversaw a network of coaches and 1,000 players on teams in six states, including New York and New Jersey.

In 2015, Lewis was named coach of the Philadelphia Union U-14 team, and was later named as the U-17 boss. He also served as the director of affiliate clubs during his time in Philadelphia. Lewis was hired as the Seattle Sounders U-17 Head Coach in 2019 and was promoted to Academy Director the following year.

“I am delighted to be joining this organization and I’m well aware of the stature and history that it has,” Lewis said in a statement “I would like to thank the Red Bull management team for this opportunity, and I am looking forward to meeting the staff and players and getting to work on the training field.”

Throughout his career, Lewis has worked with young players such as Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ross Barkley, Brenden Aaronson and Mark McKenzie.

On the international level, Lewis spent a brief period as an assistant coach on the United States U-18 Men’s National Team in early 2019.

Lewis also is a qualified coach educator for the USSF “A” license and will serve a key role in developing coaches/staff members both on Red Bulls II and within the Academy/Youth Programs.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.