MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact announced on Thursday the nomination of former player Patrick Leduc as the club’s administrative director of soccer operations.
As part of his functions, Patrick Leduc will supervise the programs and budgets of the club’s Academy, as well as Centre Nutrilait’s operations, while being the main link with the first team regarding players developed within the club’s structure. As an Impact representative, he will develop relations with Canada Soccer and Soccer Québec. He will also take care of the first team’s administrative management, notably its operations budget and all other related services.
“We are very excited that Patrick Leduc will join the club as of January 7,” declared Montreal Impact president Joey Saputo. “Patrick has profound knowledge of modern professional soccer, as well as being a part of our sport’s new generation. He knows the club’s activities, our reality and our needs. His sense of analysis will be a major asset in reviewing the administrative running of our soccer operations.”
“It’s with great of pride and enthusiasm that I begin this new chapter with the Montreal Impact,” said Patrick Leduc. “I had the opportunity to wear the club’s jersey for many seasons and closely follow the club’s evolution since its transition to MLS in 2012. I consider it a privilege to be able to participate in the continued growth of my hometown club. It is with great motivation that I plan to invest myself in my responsibilities, most notably all operations surrounding the Academy and offering support to the Bleu-blanc-noir’s first team. I would like to thank Joey Saputo for offering me this opportunity. We’ve already been through some of the biggest moments in Impact history together, and I plan to put my skills to the club’s service with renewed enthusiasm to reach new heights in the near future.”
Holder of a Canada Soccer B License, he most recently served as a performance analyst with the U20 Canadian national men’s team’s technical staff. Patrick Leduc was also head coach of the Canadian team during the Danone Nations Cup, from 2016 to 2018, assistant coach for the U20 Canadian national women’s team in 2013, and head coach for Les Québécois during the Tournoi des Peuples et Nations in Marseille the same year.
He was also a senior coach for the Association régionale de soccer de la Rive-Sud from 2008 to 2011, serving most notably as Director of sports-études at Collège Français, as well as director of the Centre de développement régional.
Patrick Leduc made his debut with the Impact in 2000 and played 222 regular season games with the club, including 163 starts, and announced his retirement from professional soccer in 2011. As a midfielder, he scored 10 goals and added 16 assists. He participated in 22 playoff games, helping the club win the championship in 2004 and 2009. He also played three games with the Canadian national team. After playing his amateur soccer with AS Brossard and FC Sélect Rive-Sud, the former Bleu-blanc-noir player played his amateur soccer with Fairleigh Dickinson University, in New Jersey, in the NCAA, where he was named the team’s MVP in 1998 and 1999.
Acting as a soccer analyst for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the Impact’s MLS games for the Réseau des sports since 2011, he’ll continue his mandate until January 1, 2019.
