Orlando City Soccer Club looks to solidify its academy level’s leadership with its most recent hiring. The club announced the hiring of David Longwell as the new academy director on Wednesday. Longwell, pending authorization to work in the U.S., will report directly to OCSC President and Founder Phil Rawlins.
“David is a great addition to our club,” Rawlins said. “He is vastly experienced at building an academy from the ground up. I was particularly impressed with the job that David has done over the past 15 years at St. Mirren, where he has developed one of the best-rated, five-star academies in that country, and brought through numerous young players to the first team.”
Longwell spent the past 15 years with Scottish Championship side St. Mirren FC’s academy. He began as a community coach, and eventually elevated to the head of the club’s youth development program. As the latter, Longwell developed multiple first-team products that would eventually assist the club in capturing the Scottish League Cup in 2013, the first since 1987.
In the past three years, Longwell has earned the program the club’s academy Scotland’s Gold Level award.
