There’s been a great deal of excitement in High Point over the coming Carolina Core FC professional soccer team season.

On Tuesday, March 1, the team made an important announcement: Carolina Core FC – an independent club that will join MLS NEXT Pro in 2024 and play its home matches in High Point – has hired soccer legend Andy Williams as head scout.

The scout position is key because he or she is the one who leads the effort to find highly talented unsigned soccer players and sign them.

Launched in March of last year by Major League Soccer, MLS NEXT Pro is a professional men’s soccer league in the United States and in Canada. Twenty-one Clubs competed during the inaugural season.

The new professional men’s soccer team will play its home games at Truist Point in High Point – the $38 million stadium where the High Point Rockers play.  The stadium was built three years ago as the centerpiece the city’s massive downtown renovation project.

Williams played soccer for the University of Rhode Island, where he remains the schools’ all-time leading scorer. After scoring up at storm at the school, Williams then joined Major League Soccer and played with the Columbus Crew, New England Revolution, MetroStars and the Chicago Fire.

Williams’ teams won the Open Cup Championship in 2003, and the MLS Cup in 2009.

Williams was also leader on the Jamaica National team, where he played in the 1998 World Cup.  His team brought home the Caribbean Cup in 2008.

So Williams knows a thing or two about the game.

Now, he’ll be responsible for “driving the development, implementation, and operation of the club’s scouting program.”

Eddie Pope, the teams chief sporting officer, said he and many others are thrilled Williams will be on board.

“We are excited to welcome Andy to the CCFC family,” Pope said. “It was important for us to find someone with MLS scouting experience who already understood the complexities of building a talented roster while working within specific budgetary parameters.”

Williams led the scouting department for the Real Salt Lake team in Utah where he landed some international and domestic talent. A lot of those players still play for Real Salt Lake or have gone on to play throughout Europe and Latin America.

“We wanted a scout who could go beyond simply circling the best player on the field.” Pope said.  “Andy’s prolific playing experience provides him with the distinct ability to recognize the subtle nuances that separate good players from special players throughout all stages of development. I am looking forward to working alongside Andy as we continue to build out our technical staff for the upcoming 2024 season.”

Soccer fans will be able to meet Andy Williams in person on Saturday, April 15 at Radar Brewing Co. in Winston-Salem to kickoff Carolina Core FC’s ‘Core Tour’ event series.