Soccer: FC Cincinnati names Jaap Stam as new manager

May 22 (UPI) -- Major League Soccer club FC Cincinnati has named Jaap Stam as its new manager.

The club announced the move Thursday. Stam, 47, had previous stints as manager for Reading in England and in Holland at PEC Swolle and Feyenoord. He also had a 15-year playing career at PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Lazio, A.C. Milan and AJax.

FC Cincinnati was 0-2 this season before the MLS suspended play in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. The club finished with the worst record in MLS during its inaugural season in 2019.

"We are very happy and pleased to have Jaap Stam become FC Cincinnati's new head coach," FC Cincinnati General Manager Gerard Nijkamp said. "He has an extensive background in being part of some of the most successful clubs in the world as a player and has also proven that he can guide teams through transitionary periods as a head coach."

Stam will be introduced to the media in an online video call at 10 a.m. EDT Friday. The news conference will stream on the FC Cincinnati Facebook page.

"We're excited to welcome Jaap to the club," Carl H. Lindner III, FC Cincinnati CEO and Controlling Owner, said. "Through this search process, we were very focused on ensuring we had aligned ambitions with our next head coach, and we believe we've found a perfect candidate for FC Cincinnati's next phase. We're pleased to have Jaap as part of the family and look forward to him joining us soon."

Stam will be FC Cincinnati's fourth coach since the club started MLS play on March 2, 2019. Alan Koch was the club's first coach before he was fired in May 2019. Yoann Damet served as interim coach before Ron Jans joined the club. Jans resigned in February before Damet had a second stint as interim coach.

Assistant coach Said Bakkati will join Stam's FC Cincinnati coaching staff.