Gilmore steps down as president and CEO of MLS club CF Montreal

Kevin Gilmore is stepping down as president and chief executive officer of Major League Soccer team CF Montreal.

A team release Thursday said the move is effective immediately and called it “a mutual decision amongst all parties involved.”

CF Montreal says Gilmore will remain with the club as a consultant until the end of this season.

Gilmore said in a release that the past 18 months have been difficult on “both the pandemic front and the club front.”

The move comes with CF Montreal in the hunt for an Eastern Conference playoff spot. Montreal is three points behind the New York Red Bulls for the seventh and final post-season berth heading into its home game Wednesday against Houston, though D.C. United and Columbus also stand between Montreal and New York.

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READ MORE: CF Montreal is the new name of the Montreal Impact

Gilmore was named president and CEO of the team (then called the Montreal Impact) and Stade Saputo on Jan. 22, 2019. He took over the position from team owner Joey Saputo.

He brought aboard former Belgium international Olivier Renard as sporting director in September 2019. The team made a splash two months later when it announced former Arsenal and France star striker Thierry Henry as head coach.

However, Henry left the team in February, just before the start of training camp. Montreal had been though a pandemic-interrupted 2020 season that saw it play the end of the campaign away from home at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Gilmore said at the time the prospect of starting the 2021 season based in the U.S. as restrictions remained contributed to Henry’s decision.

“Last year was very difficult on this club across the board,” Gilmore said at the time. “But especially with those that had to spend the last four months of the season outside of Montreal. And the prospect of starting a season like that again is very difficult.”