Huntsville City FC Appoints Matt Cairns as Director of Football Operations; Announces Coaching Staff Additions

January 22, 2024 – MLS NEXT Pro (MLS NEXT Pro) – Huntsville City Football Club News Release

Huntsville, Ala. – Huntsville City Football Club announced today the appointment of Matt Cairns as the Club’s new Director of Soccer Operations. Cairns fills the position left by Liam Doyle, who joins parent club Nashville SC as Director of Soccer. Moreover, Huntsville City FC announced the addition of Christophe Berra, Zachary Herold and Fabio Hernandez to the club’s coaching staff.

“Matt has a tremendous amount of experience in the professional soccer landscape, both in the U.S. and abroad,” said Mike Jacobs, Nashville SC and Huntsville City FC General Manager. “He is somebody I’ve always admired and wanted to work with, and we are excited to add him to our club.”

Cairns joins Huntsville City FC after spending the last five years as the Director of Soccer for Topnotch Management in Minneapolis, Minn., where he represented players across Major League Soccer and the USL Championship. Cairns was born and raised in St. Albans, England before graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2013. After graduating, Cairns worked as a licensed agent and intermediary at Skylet Andrew and MLC Sport before joining Topnotch Management.

Additionally, the club announced the appointments of Christophe Berra and Zachary Herold as assistant coaches, and of Fabio Hernandez as goalkeeper coach.

“These are great hires whose experience and character will provide immediate impact for our club both on and off the field,” said Jack Collison, Huntsville City FC Head Coach. “Bringing in coaches of this caliber underscores the commitment made by our group to empower leaders on the pitch who are good soccer minds and great people dedicated to building our program and moving our team forward in a positive direction.”

Berra joins Huntsville from the Scottish Premiership where he was a first-team coach for Livingston FC. Before that, Berra made 560 appearances across Scotland’s and England’s Premier Leagues with childhood club Heart of Midlothian and Wolverhampton Wanderers, respectively. Berra also played with Ipswich Town before returning to Heart of Midlothian and finally finishing his career as a player-coach for Raith Rovers in Scotland. Internationally, Berra was capped 41 times by Scotland, scoring four goals.

Herold, a former Generation adidas player from Port St. Lucie, Fla., joins Huntsville from the Atlanta United FC Academy where he coached with Huntsville City FC Head Coach…