Mauro Eustaquio named as new head coach of York United FC

Mauro Eustáquio is the new Head Coach of York United FC. 

The 31-year-old takes on the new role after serving as Assistant Coach with The Nine Stripes since February 2022.

He becomes the youngest-ever permanent manager of a Tier 1 pro football club in North America and the first former Canadian Premier League player to subsequently serve as a Head Coach in the league.   

In May of this year, Eustáquio took over as interim Head Coach following the departure of Martin Nash and oversaw two Canadian Premier League fixtures: a home win over the Halifax Wanderers and an away defeat to Forge FC.   

"I’m grateful for this opportunity and thankful to the ownership for their support," Eustáquio says.

"This club means a lot to me, it’s close to my heart and I’m committed to delivering an extremely competitive team. The hard work doesn’t start now. The hard work continues. I’m a person who believes strongly in dedication and focus and that discipline has always been a large part of who I am. We can achieve great things together and I’m excited for what’s ahead."

Eustáquio becomes the fourth permanent Head Coach in club history, following Jim Brennan, Martin Nash and Benjamín Mora.

"From the first moment we met Mauro, we knew he was somebody we wanted at this club for a long time," says Ricardo Pasquel, President of York United FC.

"He is an extremely impressive coach, with all the ingredients required to be successful. Our commitment is to developing Canadian talent and that doesn’t just mean players. We’ve already seen how impressively Mauro has dealt with the demands of stepping into the Head Coach role and he’s ready for this next step. We believe in him and look forward to what this team can deliver in 2025 and beyond."       

Born in the Portuguese coastal fishing village of Nazaré, Eustáquio moved with his parents to Leamington, Ontario when he was an infant and began his formative football career in the local house league.

Later, the family returned to Portugal and Eustáquio took his first tentative steps towards professionalism, spending time with União de Leiria before signing pro terms with lower-tier Sporting Pombal. His performances attracted the attention of the Canada Under-20 setup and Eustáquio ended up earning caps at both U20 and U23 level.  

In 2013, Eustáquio signed for the Ottawa Fury, proving an integral part of the side that won the NASL Fall Championship in 2015 and that was pipped to the title by a New York Cosmos team that boasted Spanish stars Raul and Marcos Senna. In 2017, he moved to FC Edmonton and played a season there before joining Penn FC where an ACL injury derailed the majority of his campaign. After coming back to Canada and joining Cavalry FC ahead of the Canadian Premier League’s inaugural season in 2019, Eustáquio suffered another ACL injury just prior to playoffs.   

After a stint with Portuguese side Caldas FC in 2020, Eustáquio announced his retirement from playing the following year and immediately began to concentrate on a transition to coaching. In April 2021, he was announced as the Development Phase Boys Manager with USL2 side Calgary Foothills, working with players from U-8 right through to U-18.  

He arrived at York United FC the following season.