Ex-Vancouver Whitecaps coach Vanni Sartini lands job with another Canadian team

Former Vancouver Whitecaps coach Vanni Sartini is back in the Canadian soccer world.

On Wednesday, Sartini was officially announced as the head coach and general manager of the Halifax Wanderers, one of the teams in the eight-team Canadian Premier League.

“Vanni’s diverse international coaching background, winning record at the MLS level, along with his incredible passion both on and off the field, meant we had significant competition for his services, but his decision to join the Wanderers and the CPL is a testament to what we have built both at our club and at our league,” Halifax Wanderers founder and president Derek Martin said in a statement.

Sartini takes the job from Patrice Gheisar, who led the team to a fourth-place finish this season and did not see his contract renewed.

A popular and eccentric figure in Vancouver, the 49-year-old Italian originally took over as the Whitecaps’ interim manager in 2021 before getting the full-time job ahead of the next season. It was his first professional head coaching gig, having previously worked as an assistant coach for the Whitecaps.

He was let go in 2024, finishing with a record of 57 wins, 39 draws, and 51 losses.

“I love this country,” Sartini said in an interview with CPL.ca’s Charlie O’Connor-Clarke. “On a very personal note, this is the country that probably changed my life. In terms of status of coaching, in terms of career, I got to another level thanks to my years in Vancouver. We really like being here, me and my wife.”

Given that the Wanderers compete in the Canadian Championship, there’s a chance that Sartini could end up making a return to BC Place at some point.