Martin Rennie

Head Coach - Martin Rennie

Birthplace - Thurso, Scotland
Hometown - Falkirk, Scotland
Citizenship - Scottish
Seasons with Whitecaps FC - 2012
Acquired - 2011.8.9
Previous Club - Carolina RailHawks (NASL)

An up-and-coming head coach that has already enjoyed tremendous success in North American professional soccer, Martin Rennie was appointed Vancouver Whitecaps FC head coach on August 9, 2011. A native of Thurso, Scotland, Rennie took charge of the Blue and White following the 2011 season.

Rennie comes to Whitecaps FC after three impressive seasons as head coach of Carolina RailHawks at the North American second division level. In the inaugural season of the new North American Soccer League in 2011, the Scotsman guided the RailHawks to an NASL regular season title with a record of 17W-8L-3D, with the North Carolina club finishing the campaign as league leaders in goals scored with 50 in 28 matches, while conceding a league-best 26 goals. Though Carolina clinched a bye to the playoff semifinals, Rennie saw his tenure as RailHawks head coach come to a disappointing end when they lost 5-3 on penalties to eventual NASL champions NSC Minnesota Stars following a 4-4 aggregate draw in their semifinal series.

In 2010, Rennie guided the RailHawks to the NASL Conference title with a 13W-9L-8D regular-season record. Carolina then earned their first playoff win and won their first playoff series in club history. They advanced all the way to the United States Soccer Federation Division-2 Professional League championship series before falling 3-1 on aggregate to Puerto Rico Islanders.

In his first season with Carolina in 2009, Rennie guided the RailHawks to a 16W-7L-7D regular-season record, a runners-up finish in the United Soccer Leagues First Division (USL-1) standings, and a berth in the USL-1 quarterfinals, where they fell 1-0 on aggregate to Whitecaps FC. Under Rennie that season, the RailHawks established new team records for wins, points, shutouts, goals scored, goals allowed, and the longest winning streak.

Prior to joining the RailHawks, Rennie enjoyed two very successful seasons with Cleveland City Stars in the old third-tier United Soccer Leagues Second Division (USL-2). He guided the Ohio-based outfit to a 10W-1L-9D regular season record in 2007 and a runners-up finish in the USL-2 standings. The Stars outscored their opponents 31 to 14 during the regular season and posted eight shutouts. They reached the semifinals of the USL-2 playoffs that year before Rennie was named the league's Coach of the Year.

Despite replacing more than three-quarters of the roster for 2008, Rennie and the Stars posted a 10W-3L-7D record to finished third in the USL-2 standings. They outscored their opponents 33 to 16 and logged 11 shutouts on the year. After failing to win three straight matches at any point during the regular season, Cleveland won three straight playoff matches and claimed the 2008 USL-2 championship title in just their second season of existence. In his two seasons as Cleveland head coach, Rennie compiled a 26W-7L-16D record in all competitions.

Born May 22, 1975, Rennie began his coaching career in 2005 with Cascade Surge of the USL's Premier Development League (PDL). The Surge placed sixth overall (12W-2L-2D, 38 points) in the 54-club PDL, with the Oregon-based outfit claiming the Western Conference, Northwest Division regular season title and the league's Fair Play award. Under Rennie, the Surge also qualified for the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup for the only time in the club's history.

His coaching credentials include Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) 'A' and 'B' Coaching Licenses, as well as a UEFA Youth License. Rennie is one of only a handful of coaches worldwide who possesses both the UEFA 'A' and Youth Licenses. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration and Management from Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland.

Rennie becomes the 15th head coach in the club's history in 2012. He follows Jim Easton (1974-1975 -- Scotland), Eckhard Krautzun (1976-1977 -- Germany), Holger Osieck (1977 -- Germany), Tony Waiters (1977-1979 & 1980 -- England), Bob McNab (1980 -- England), Johnny Giles (1981-1983 -- Ireland), Alan Hinton (1984 -- England), Bob Lenarduzzi (1987-1993 -- Canada), Carl Valentine (1994-1999 -- England), Dale Mitchell (2000-2001 -- Canada), Tony Fonseca (2002-2004 -- Portugal), Bob Lilley (2005-2007 -- United States), Teitur Thordarson (2008-2011 -- Iceland), and Tom Soehn (2011 -- United States)