Toronto FC makes a deal with Colorado Rapids to add to Robin Fraser's coaching staff

New Zealand head coach Neil Emblen watches his team during their group C men's soccer match against Egypt at the London 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 29, 2012 at Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester, England. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Jon Super

TORONTO — New head coach Robin Fraser added to his coaching staff Friday with Toronto FC making a deal to pry loose two of his former assistants from the Colorado Rapids.

To get assistant coach Neil Emblen and video coach Jase Kim on board, Toronto sent its first-round pick in the 2026 MLS SuperDraft to the Rapids. As part of the deal, TFC may receive US$175,000 in general allocation money and retain a sell-on percentage if the pick turns out to be one of the top three in the drafts.

“I’m really happy that we were able to get them,” said Fraser. “I know it comes at a price but I think it’s worthwhile … I do feel like this project needed a fresh kind of feeling. And certainly these are people that I’ve been through a lot with and have a great deal of trust in.”

The two new additions join incumbent goalkeeping coach Simon Eaddy, director of performance Cesar Meylan and performance analyst Peter Galindo.

TFC left Friday for Spain to continue its pre-season preparations.

Emblen has spent the last seven years with Colorado, where he served as both an assistant coach and “the main coaching link to the recruiting department.”

A former defender and midfielder whose playing career stretched from 1987 to 2011, Emblem had stints with Tonbridge Angels, Sittingbourne, Millwall, Wolves, Crystal Palace, Norwich City and Walsall in his native England before moving to the Southern Hemisphere to play for the New Zealand Knights and Waitakere United.

“They still chant his name at Wolves,” said Fraser.

“I love his character. I love his enthusiasm for the game,” he added. “He’s a very good coach.”

Emblen coached Waitakere to three straight New Zealand league titles between 2010 and 2012. He managed New Zealand at the 2012 London Olympics before serving two matches as New Zealand’s interim head coach in 2014.

Kim joined Colorado in January 2018 as a first-team video analyst after serving first as a performance analyst and then head performance analyst for the New Zealand national team. Kim was also part of the New Zealand technical staff at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 17, 2025

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press