Orange County SC Announces Technical Team for 2023

February 16, 2023 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Orange County SC News Release

Orange County SC confirms the technical staff for the 2023 USL Championship season. Under the leadership of longterm President of Soccer Operations & General Manager Oliver Wyss and Sporting Director Peter Nugent, Head Coach Richard Chaplow will begin his second full season on the sideline and two new world-class additions will join him.

2023 Orange County SC Technical Team:

Head Coach: Richard Chaplow (2nd season, 5th on coaching staff)

Richard Chaplow enters his second full season as the head coach of Orange County SC. He has now been with the Black and Orange for the last eight seasons, as a player in 2016-2018 and as a member of the technical staff for the last five. Chaplow has lifted the USL Championship final trophy as a manager in 2021 and was also the captain of the Black and Orange as a player. Prior to coming to the States, Chaplow made 312 appearances in the English Premier League, Championship and League One for Burnley, Southampton, West Bromwich Albion, Preston North End, Millwall, Doncaster and Ipswich Town.

First Assistant Coach: Morten Karlsen (1st season)

Morten Karlsen joins Orange County SC for the 2023 season fresh off of his time as a member for his home country Denmark’s technical staff at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In 2017, Karlsen attained his UEFA Pro Coaching License, the highest UEFA recognized coaching license a coach can have. Karlsen also has prior coaching experience as the assistant coach of AGF, the former club of fellow countrymen Daniel Pedersen and Emil Nielsen. He has also served as a head and assistant coach in the Danish Superliga at the professional and U-19 levels. Prior to his coaching career, Karlsen made over 300 appearances as a player in the Netherlands and Denmark’s top divisions. Karlsen is trilingual, speaking English, Danish and Dutch.

Second Assistant Coach & IDP Manager: Paul Hardyman (3rd season)

Paul Hardyman returns for his third season with the club. Hardyman was the first Assistant Coach in the 2021 Championship season and has been instrumental in the very successful OCSC player development structure. Paul also manages the Individual Development Plans of our top young talents, which is a program that fine tunes certain aspects of their game. Prior to his time at OCSC, Hardyman has held coaching positions with Watford and Southampton. During his playing career, he made over 350 appearances for Sunderland,…