Istvan Urbanyi has been named the new head coach of Sporting Kansas City II, the club announced today.
In addition, Sporting KC II assistant coach Ike Opara and goalkeeper coach Darrin MacLeod will retain their roles ahead of the 2025 MLS NEXT Pro season.
Urbanyi previously served as a Sporting KC Academy coach from 2014-2016 and a Talent Identification Director for the club from 2018-2020. He boasts two decades of coaching experience across the United States, Europe and Asia as well as an accomplished playing career spanning his native Hungary and Major League Soccer.
A native of Salgótarján, Hungary, Urbanyi logged over 400 club appearances as a defender and midfielder, spending 17 years in his home country prior to becoming the first Hungarian international signed by MLS when he played for the San Jose Clash in 1997. He made two appearances with the Hungary Men's National Team in 1990 and was a two-time league champion and Hungarian Cup winner as a member of Budapest Honved FC. Immediately following his professional career, Urbanyi worked as a commentator, reporter and match analyzer for World Cup, Euro Cup, UEFA Champions League and Hungarian league matches.
After serving as a youth coach and coaching director at the academies of Hungarian clubs MTK Budapest and Ujpest FC, Urbanyi became the Ujpest FC manager in 2006 for his first head coaching role at the senior level. In 2009, he began his first of two spells as head coach of the Maldives Men’s National Team before taking the helm at Hungarian side Kecskeméti TE in 2010. Urbanyi then returned to his national team post with the Maldives from 2011-2013.
Urbanyi spent two full seasons as a Sporting KC Academy coach from 2014-2016, leading the U-16 and U-18 age groups and coaching current Sporting winger Daniel Salloi. After spending one year as the head coach of Hungarian club Gyirmot SE in 2016-2017, Urbanyi returned to Kansas City for two collegiate seasons as associate head coach at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Urbanyi’s second stint at Sporting saw him serve as a Talent Identification Director from 2018-2020, during which time he scouted extensively for the club across several continents. In 2018 he also coached at nearby Kaw Valley FC, which that year became an expansion team in the Premier Development League. From 2020-2021, Urbanyi stepped into his first experience as technical director at Budapest Honved FC, returning to the club for which he played in the 1980s and 1990s.
Urbanyi becomes the fifth Sporting KC II head coach in team history, following Marc Dos Santos (2016), Nikola Popovic (2017), Paulo Nagamura (2018-2021) and Benny Feilhaber (2022-2024). Sporting KC II will begin preseason training in early February ahead of the 2025 MLS NEXT Pro campaign, which kicks off in March. SKC II is also one of 10 MLS NEXT Pro teams slated to participate in the 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Tickets for SKC II’s MLS NEXT Pro home matches are now on sale via SeatGeek for just $10. All home games in 2025 will be played at Children's Mercy Victory Field at Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Missouri. Around half of SKC II's matches will be available to stream with an MLS Season Pass subscription on the Apple TV App. The remaining matches will be shown on MLSNEXTPro.com and the MLS YouTube Channel.
