Liam Fox, a former coach and player in the top league of Scottish soccer, will serve as Sporting Club Jacksonville’s first men’s head coach, the club announced at a Nov. 4 event.
Fox will lead the club, known colloquially as Sporting JAX, as it prepares to debut in the USL Championship season in March 2026.
He was head coach of Cowdenbeath in the fourth tier of Scottish soccer from May 2016 until his firing in 2017. That was his only experience as a full-time head coach.
Fox later was interim head coach at Heart of Midlothian FC, better known as “Hearts,” and Dundee United FC.
“Really looking forward to some new challenges to help create a really, really good environment,” Fox said at Sporting JAX’s announcement event. “(I’m) here to develop people, develop players, create a culture. And if we do that, we’ll hopefully have a successful and exciting period coming up.”
The Sporting JAX men’s team is set to play its debut season at the University of North Florida Hodges Stadium while the club assesses locations for a permanent, soccer-specific venue. The women’s side, which competes in the Gainbridge Super League, is already playing at Hodges Stadium.
The club expects to make an announcement on the permanent stadium location in early 2026, after the holiday season.
The club has narrowed its search to several locations in Duval County, Chief Community Officer Tony Allegretti said, noting the club previously considered playing in St. Johns County. Sporting Jax also has ruled out playing at the closed Sears location at Regency Square Mall.
Allegretti said it was unlikely the club’s stadium would be finished for the 2027 season. The stadium is planned to be part of a larger, mixed-use development that investment firm Momentous Sports said would include housing, retail and public gathering spaces.
While Fox and Sporting Jax are set to debut in the USL Championship, Sporting Jax has applied to join the USL’s Division One league, which will debut in 2027. That league will serve as the top tier for the USL’s system.