CHARLOTTE—Former MLS striker and Jamaica international Ryan Johnson has been appointed North America Scout at Charlotte FC, the club confirmed on Monday.
Johnson, who played for five Major League Soccer teams across a fifteen-year professional career, offers a proven track record in scouting, development and technical analysis in the CONCACAF region.
“We are very happy to have Ryan join our department as North America Scout,” says Director of Scouting Thomas Schaling. “We set out to find another highly talented, proactive and hard-working professional in the soccer industry and we are certain that we have found the right person for this role.”
Johnson will be responsible for scouting efforts at MLS, USL and collegiate levels, in addition to identifying talent throughout Central America. As part of Charlotte FC’s global scouting network, Johnson will place high-quality recruitment options from the CONCACAF region among the club’s top candidates worldwide.
“Ryan will add valuable MLS experience and a great network within North America to our team,” says Schaling. “It has been great working with Vincent van Raam, Davor Brasanac and Lisandro Isei and seeing the development of this scouting team over the past year-and-a-half. Now is the perfect moment to add Ryan, to further strengthen this part of our club.”
Johnson played in Major League Soccer with Real Salt Lake, Chicago Fire, San Jose Earthquakes, Toronto FC and Portland Timbers. He won the Open Cup with Chicago in 2006, was leading scorer and MVP with San Jose in 2009, and was Western Conference champion with Portland in 2013.
The Oregon State alumnus also spent time with clubs in Sweden, China and South Korea. He earned 36 caps for Jamaica, scoring 12 goals across a variety of international competitions.
After retiring in 2016, Johnson worked as an assistant coach at Florida Gulf Coast University—where his duties included video analysis and opposition research—and as a talent scout and player-mentor for the sports agency, ProSport Management.
“I’m delighted to join the scouting team at Charlotte FC, which has a very impressive process-driven strategy for the inaugural season and beyond,” says Johnson. “The club has displayed incredible ambition for 2022 and I look forward to playing my part in building an organization with a blueprint for sustained success.”
