El Paso USL President, Alan Ledford, and General Manager, Andrew Forrest named Mark Lowry as the Head Coach and Technical Director for the team on Wednesday, July 25 at Southwest University Park.

Gallery | 5 Photos Gaby Velasquez (From left to right) General Manager Andrew Forrest Head Coach and Technical Director Mark Lowry and USL President Alan Ledford pose for a photo after the announcement.

After what many thought would be an announcement of the club’s name, El Paso USL announced the hiring of new head coach and technical director Mark Lowry.

“Our extensive search provided exposure to many very talented and experienced soccer coaches, but Mark’s passion, recent success, training, and progressive approach stood out,” said Alan Ledford, President of El Paso USL.

Lowry, 32, is bilingual, which is something El Paso USL was in search for when they were looking for qualities in a head coach.

He was born and raised in Birmingham, England. Mark inherits this expansion team after his stint with the Jacksonville Armada FC (NASL), where he served as assistant coach, before being promoted to interim head coach and then head coach of the club in October 2016. Lowry led Jacksonville to their best season to date in 2017, where the club finished fifth overall, and just one spot away from a playoff berth.

Prior to that, he was with the Orlando City Soccer Club (MLS) where he was an assistant coach for the U-23 team and then as the MLS Pro Academy head coach.

Lowry had success in Europe, as he worked for two English Premier League teams including Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, where he served as player scout and academy coach, and he also served as a player scout for the Birmingham City FC.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to join MountainStar Sports group as the first ever head coach for El Paso’s new USL club. I am excited to bring high level football to this town and, with such amazing ownership, we expect to be a contender from day one,” Lowry said.

The club has its star player in El Pasoan Omar Salgado, who is on loan currently playing for Las Vegas Lights FC, where in his second appearance scored the game-winning goal on July 22. Lowry had nothing but high praise for Salgado and is eager to work with the forward.

El Paso USL Soccer will debut in March 2019.