Atlanta United’s success built by English head of recruitment Lucy Rushton who was hired from Reading
Reading-born Rushton was hired by former Tottenham director of football Darren Eales three years ago
AT THE heart of Atlanta United’s whirlwind success in the MLS is an English woman who three years ago was tasked with building their first-ever team.
Reading-born Lucy Rushton, Atlanta’s head of technical recruitment and analysis, was hired in January 2016 by the club’s president and former director of football at Tottenham Darren Eales.
Eales was putting together a plan for the club’s inception and, back then, 33-year-old Rushton recalls how just eight employees “rattled around” in billionaire owner Arthur Blank’s family offices.
“They had a very clear vision and strategy,” Rushton, formerly of Reading and Watford, told SunSport.
“I could see from the off that Arthur was investing money and I knew they wanted to play fast, attacking, exciting football with a young team.
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“Darren sold it to me straight away with his vision of the stadium, the training ground and their aspirations.
“My job was to come in and build a team from scratch.
“That kind of job just doesn’t come about in football.”
Rushton had spent virtually her entire life living at the family home in leafy Berkshire ahead of the 4,000-mile move across the Atlantic.
She was a defensive midfielder growing up – “the ball-winning one doing the dirty work” – and played for a team that eventually evolved into Reading Women.
After studying in Cardiff, Rushton did an internship with the Football Association before landing her first job with Watford in 2008 as a scout.
But her stay at Vicarage Road lasted only six months as a “dream job” at Reading came available.
She had been a season-ticket holder at the Madejski Stadium and was given the opportunity to work with the Royals’ first-team providing analysis on opposition.
She spent seven years there, working with Steve Coppell, Brendan Rodgers, Brian McDermott and Steve Clarke, before the idea of going to the MLS was put to her.
“I felt like I needed a new challenge,” Rushton said. “
“I’d been at Reading a long time and didn’t want to stagnate in one position.
“A contact asked if I’d considered the MLS and described this fantastic opportunity at Atlanta that Darren Eales of Tottenham was heading up.”
It wasn’t until the first day of pre-season, when the cones were laid out, that it all seemed real.
I want to find the next player who will blow the MLS away and get a big-money move to Europe and blow Europe away as well
Lucy Rushton
“To see a team together, a team that has kits and training equipment, and a pitch to play on – that was a surreal moment which was followed by a lot of other surreal moments,” Rushton explains.
You are likely to have seen clips of Atlanta online.
They are the raucous MLS team in the 72,300-seater Mecedes-Benz Stadium that adopted the Icelandic Thunderclap and are known for their tifos, the giant banners that stretch across stands.
Fans have been enthralled by the talents of Josef Martinez, Julian Gressel and Ezequiel Barco, who was the most expensive signing in MLS history at £10million.
Unearthing quality is what Rushton thrives on. “It’s a varied market and so different to England because we have so many different markets to dip into,” she said.
“As well as the kids in America, South America and around the world, we scout college kids too.
“If you can get a good college kid who contributes to your team and keeps your salary cap low then that’s a massive find.”
Her success stands out in a male-dominated game, and Rushton insists she’s never felt discriminated against throughout her career.
“Statistically, in England and America, there is inequality because when you look at the numbers [of women] in the game they’re both extremely low,” she says.
“Women’s football is so much more established over here and it has been for a long time but I still don’t know any other female analysts working over here.”
Rushton recognises the reputation of the MLS has been as a retirement home for greats of the European game, with Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Thierry Henry all retiring in the States.
But she wants to reverse that trend.
“I want to find the next player who will blow the MLS away and get a big-money move to Europe and blow Europe away as well,” Rushton said.
“I want to be a part of a players’ trajectory and that’s what really excites me.”
But does she have any aspirations of making the same move herself, returning to the UK with a Premier League side?
“Well, I’ve just got my visa renewed and about to buy a house,” she says.
“There’s so much more I want to achieve at Atlanta.”