The Chicago Stars fired second-year coach Lorne Donaldson as the team flounders in one of the worst starts in franchise history.
The club announced the decision Wednesday morning. Assistant coach Masaki Hemmi will serve as interim head coach.
When he was hired in 2024, Donaldson appeared to offer stability to the Stars in the aftermath of the ousting of former coach Rory Dames. Donaldson, a well-respected manager who previously led the Jamaican women’s national team to the knockout round of the 2023 World Cup, offered a bridge between an era of dysfunction and a new future under new ownership.
In his debut NWSL season, Donaldson led Chicago to the playoffs with a 10-14-2 record. But that success quickly dried up for the Stars, who started the 2025 season with a 1-5-0 record. The year began with a brutal 6-0 drubbing by the Orlando Pride. Six games into the season, the Stars have scored only three goals while posting a league-worst -11 goal differential.
“We are grateful to Lorne Donaldson for the culture, respect and sense of self-belief he helped build within our squad,” general manager Richard Feuz said in a statement. “We appreciate his work and wish him the best for the future.”
This is the third time the Stars have replaced a head coach in the last four years.
The cycle began in 2021 with Dames’ firing amid a league-wide abuse scandal. The Stars hired Chris Petrucelli in 2022, then fired him with a game left in his second season after he notched a 16-18-9 record with the club.
The problems on the pitch extend beyond coaching. The Stars have played their entire season without star striker Mallory Swanson, who has yet to participate in any team activities due to unspecified personal reasons. Despite receiving notice from Swanson about her indefinite absence in January, Feuz made no moves to fortify the front line, leaving the Stars in limbo with the lowest-scoring offense in the NWSL.
The Stars have not recorded a winning season since 2022 and have not won a playoff game since 2021. The team will play their first game without Donaldson on the road Sunday against Gotham FC.
