Bay FC finds its general manager in Rushton, former D.C. United GM

Bay FC made its first hire official on Wednesday and found the head of its business side.

But the club has its first soccer-side hire, too.

A source confirmed to Bay Area News Group that Bay FC is tapping Lucy Rushton, former general manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United, to the same role for the Bay Area team. ESPN was first to report Rushton’s hiring.

Rushton, 34, is a native of England who spent 18 months as the GM in the nation’s capital. She had previously worked as head of technical recruitment and analysis at Atlanta United in the MLS for five years, helping that club win an MLS Cup, and in England for Reading and Watford.

When she was hired as GM in Washington D.C., she was only the second female general manager in MLS history. The first was Lynne Meterparel with the San Jose Earthquakes from 1999-2000 (though she was not as involved in on-field personnel decisions).

Now, Rushton will move to Meterparel’s old stomping grounds in the Bay Area on the women’s side of the sport, where Rushton has no prior experience.

In Rushton’s two seasons in charge, D.C. United just missed the MLS playoffs in 2021, finishing in eighth in the Eastern Conference, before finishing with the worst record of any team in the league in 2022. Though she was dismissed in October, reports at the time indicate that part of the logic behind her dismissal was to allow new head coach Wayne Rooney more control over roster decisions.

Earlier on Wednesday, the club officially announced the hire of Brady Stewart as the CEO of Bay FC. Stewart and Rushton are the first two of several hires the team will need to make over the coming 90 days as Bay FC works to get ramped up before the club’s first NWSL match in March 2024.