Sporting KC supporters group The Cauldron calls on manager Peter Vermes to resign
Sporting Kansas City, which missed out on the Major League Soccer playoffs last season, has yet to win a game in 2025.
The club’s latest defeat, 2-1 at FC Dallas Saturday, might’ve not have been the final straw for The Cauldron, but on Sunday the team’s primary supporter’s group called on longtime manager Peter Vermes to resign.
Via social media, The Cauldron posted a letter to Vermes, who has held the role of manager since 2009, and the Sporting KC ownership group. It opens with the following:
“As the official supporters group of Sporting Kansas City, the KC Cauldron and South Stand Supporters Club write to you today with urgency and frustration. We are at a breaking point — one that demands decisive action to protect the legacy, culture and future of our beloved club.”
Sporting KC has one draw and five losses in MLS competition so far this season. The letter says the organization has “stagnated, its ambitions dwindled, and its results declined.”
The Cauldron writes that, “The lack of urgency, lack of adaptation, and lack of accountability have been glaring.”
The statement/letter also states: “This is not a request. It is a demand from a fanbase that refuses to watch its club wither under outdated tactics and unchallenged authority. His (Vermes’) tenure has run its course, and a fresh vision is required to lead Sporting KC into the future.”
The letter closes with acknowledgment of Vermes’ contributions to the club through the years, and they are many.
He has led Sporting KC to 251 wins, 127 draws and 213 losses across all competitions — MLS/MLS postseason, U.S. Open Cup, Leagues Cup and Concacaf.
Vermes first starred for the KC Wizards as a player, even getting called up to the U.S. Men’s National Team. Years later, he’d take the sidelines as manager (head coach) and technical director through the club’s 2010 re-brand as Sporting Kansas City.
As both manager and technical director, Vermes led Sporting KC to multiple championships, including the 2013 MLS Cup. His Pro Player Pathway development approach — and creation of the Sporting KC Academy — were considered seminal factors in Kansas City’s soccer dominance of the 2010s.
Sporting KC’s downturn since then has been stark, however, with no MLS playoff appearances in two of the past three seasons.
As recently as the several-year stretch from 2018 to 2021, Sporting KC twice finished atop the Western Conference standings of MLS (and was a proper handball and penalty-kick call away from finishing first in 2021). In all competitions, Sporting had 66 wins, 50 losses and 28 draws in that span.
The sharpest downturn has come since 2021. Sporting KC opened the 2023 season winless through 10 matches and endured another 10-game winless streak in the middle of the 2024 campaign. The club’s record since 2022: 44 wins, 64 losses and 23 draws in all competitions.
This past offseason Sporting said goodbye to such longtime veterans as captain Johnny Russell, Roger Espinoza and Alan Pulido. New additions to the roster are still finding their way, as is the team itself amid an admitted rebuild that figures to extend throughout the year.
Vermes no longer holds the title of technical director. Sporting KC last year hired Mike Burns as its sporting director.
Sporting KC next plays host to St. Louis City SC on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Central Time at Children’s Mercy Park.
Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.
This story was originally published March 30, 2025 at 2:29 PM.