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It’s official: Robert Vilahamn will head the Portland Thorns this year.
The Swedish coach joins the club off a two-season stint with the Tottenham Hotspurs in England’s Women’s Super League. He led the club to their first FA Cup final in his first year before getting booted from the job after leading Tottenham to an 11th-place finish (just shy of relegation) in his second season.
Still, Thorns general manager Jeff Agoos praised Vilahamn’s experience working in professional women’s soccer in Portland’s announcement. “His proactive, front-foot approach aligns with the identity and expectations of the Thorns and our supporters,” Agoos said in the Thorns’ release, “and we look forward to welcoming him to Portland.”
ESPN first reported the move on Sunday, and the Thorns confirmed Vilahamn’s impending arrival today.
Vilahamn will take the reins from interim head coach Sarah Lowdon, a Thorns assistant coach since 2024, who’s led the club since Portland fired former head coach Rob Gale in November 2025. With Gale’s departure, Portland announced the beginning of a “comprehensive search” for a new coach—which meant candidates with experience both inside and outside the NWSL, per ESPN. (Lowdon herself was one of the names those of us following the league have been throwing around, but—as I’ve written—her biggest drawback was being already with a club that’s hired their last two head coaches internally.)
So, who is this guy?
Vilahamn’s Swedish, he’s both a coach and a businessman, he’s a former player who hit a wall early in his career, and he’s been coaching professional women’s soccer since 2022. He draws inspiration from his days on the pitch (“Everything is built on how I was, what I could have needed in those situations, what the players need now, how I want to act and treat people,” he told The Athletic of his coaching inspirations in 2024), and he has experience developing young players—a clear match for the youthful Thorns.
“The club has everything I look for,” Vilahamn said in Portland’s release, “a clear ambition to win, an incredible fan base and a strong environment for developing talented players.”
How does this all translate to the Thorns? I’m not sure we can say, yet. The NWSL is nothing if not a unique league—international players frequently reference the struggle of adapting to its fast-paced, athletic and transitional nature—and Vilahamn’s entering this role with a mixed bag of a resume.
Even with a star-studded Thorns frontline still working its way back to match-fitness and questions surrounding Portland’s midfield, there’s high expectations around a club that carried itself to a third-place finish in 2025 on young talent and a refusal to give up on one another.
It’s clear, if nothing else, that Vilahamn will need to hit the ground running and be willing to adapt.
Vilahamn will join the team once he receives his work visa, per the Thorns.
