New England Revolution
New England unveiled its new-look front office, with Mass. native Chris Tierney becoming the team’s general manager.
Matt Turner and Curt Onalfo in 2025 after Turner returned to New England on loan. Via Mimi Murad/New England Revolution
June 30, 2026 | 3:00 PM
4 minutes to read
Though it might seem like odd timing, the Revolution officially named a new general manager on Monday during the Major League Soccer summer break (with the World Cup in full swing).
Chris Tierney, formerly the assistant sporting director, will assume the GM role for New England (along with his other new position, chief soccer officer). Former sporting director Curt Onalfo switches to a new title of his own, and will focus more on the team’s developmental side, becoming vice president of soccer operations.
Team president Brian Bilello, speaking at a Tuesday press conference, noted that New England is trying to get ahead of the upcoming MLS schedule shift in 2027 when teams move to a summer-to-spring calendar instead of the current spring-to-fall model.
“I think all organizations right now are trying to realign a little bit around this summer window, right?” said Bilello. “So going forward your season’s going to end at the end of the spring and start a little later than now. So I think we’re always thinking about not just frankly these two guys, but everything in the organization.”
Bilello also gave a nod to Tierney’s potential, and how he is viewed around MLS as an up-and-coming executive.
“I also think we recognize, especially with Chris, that the clock was probably ticking on him. And if we wanted to secure him for a long time, it wasn’t something we wanted to risk and wait until the end of the year.”
For Onalfo, who has experienced an up-and-down tenure as sporting director — the club’s academy and player development has flourished, though the last two seasons were underwhelming for the first team — the new title presents a chance to dive further in on something he’s proven to be good at.
Notably, Onalfo referenced one of the Revolution academy’s greatest success stories: Esmir Bajraktarevic, who now plays for Dutch powerhouse PSV, and will likely feature for Bosnia and Herzegovina against the United States in the World Cup Round of 32 matchup on July 1.
With Tierney handling more of the day-to-day first team personnel responsibilities, Onalfo noted that he can extend himself even more to recruit the next generation of academy talents.
“He came through our system, he was a recruited player into our club,” Onalfo said of Bajraktarevic. “I was instrumental in helping that happen. I will now have more time to focus on helping us recruit better and better players into our pathway, and then look at how can we make it even better. It’s constantly evolving and you can never get complacent.”
Tierney, a Massachusetts native, acknowledged that it’s the continuation of a dream to be involved with his local club.
“It’s my hometown, it’s the club I grew up as a supporter of,” Tierney said of the Revolution. “I’ve always been a fan of this club, so to be able to continue to contribute to this club in a meaningful way is a responsibility that I certainly don’t take lightly.”
To that end, Tierney was asked about the Revolution’s current position, and the potential moves in the MLS summer transfer window.
“We’ve entered this transfer window with a plan and identified positions where we’d like to strengthen the team,” he explained. “It’s certainly our goal to add some impact players that we feel like will help us in the short term. But we’re going to be very considerate about the players that we bring into this club going forward. They have to be players that not only help us on field in the positions that we’ve identified, but they have to be the right culture fit as well.”
A name that has to be at the top of Tierney’s current list is actually New England goalkeeper Matt Turner, currently with the U.S. national team at the World Cup.
Turner, who rose to professional prominence playing for New England from 2018-2022, has been back at the club for almost a year on loan from French club Lyon. Whether he stays beyond the initial terms of his one-year loan remains to be seen.
“You have Lyon, you have us, and you have Matt. And I think the deal has to make sense for all three of those parties in order for it to work,” Tierney explained. “So we are working diligently to make that happen.”
The other potential transactional shoe to drop this summer could be whether New England uses an available “Designated Player” roster slot (a player whose salary is exempted from the league’s cap). Those roster spots are employed to bring in higher-caliber talent, and inevitably attract attention from fans.
“It has to be the correct cultural fit for us,” Tierney said of a potential Designated Player signing in the summer. “He has to fit into the expectations and the standards of our club. “We’re evaluating a number of options to bring in a Designated Player this summer. Our hope and expectation is to be able to do that.”
The Revolution will resume regular season play on July 22 at Gillette Stadium against Toronto FC. New England is currently placed fourth in the Eastern Conference.
Hayden Bird
Hayden Bird is a sports staff writer for Boston.com, where he has worked since 2016. He covers all things sports in New England.
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