Toronto FC of Major League Soccer has named Ali Curtis of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as their fifth general manager in franchise history. Curtis takes over from Tim Bezbatchenko of Westerville, Ohio, who was the general manager for Toronto FC since 2013 and was the club’s general manager during the most successful seasons in the history of the franchise, including a MLS Cup title in 2017.
Curtis has two years experience as the sporting director for the New York Red Bulls in 2015 and 2016. While with the Red Bulls in 2015, the team had the best regular season record in the MLS at 18 wins, 10 losses and six ties for 60 points. The Red Bulls were tied with FC Dallas with exactly the same record, but won the Supporters’ Shield because they had a +19 goals for and against ratio, while FC Dallas was only at +13. In the 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs, the Red Bulls beat D.C. United 2-0 on aggregate in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but then lost 2-1 on aggregate to the Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference Finals.
In 2016, the Red Bulls once again had the best regular season record in the Eastern Conference. At 57 points, they had three more points than New York City FC. However they were upset in the Eastern Conference semifinals 3-1 on aggregate to the Montreal Impact.
Toronto FC might be in a bit of a rebuilding stage. After winning the 2017 MLS Cup, they missed the playoffs in 2018 with a losing record of 10 wins, 18 losses and six ties for 36 points. They finished ninth out of 11 teams in the Eastern Conference.
