ANNAPOLIS, MD ( Dec. 5 2025) — Fred Matthes, the first General Manager
and the first public hire in the history of Annapolis Blues steps aside
into an advisory role, the team announced Friday.
Matthes will remain active with the Club, and will continue on working with
ownership and on special projects that will come up in the future with both
the USL2 and USLW League teams in the role of Senior Advisor – Special
Projects Liaison. He will also take on a small, minority ownership in the
Club in the future.
Matthes, who also runs a Soccer Consulting business, FM Professional Soccer
Consulting, played a pivotal role during Annapolis Blues FC’s first three
seasons of existence. He was hired in the late Summer of 2022, and during
his tenure the franchise established NPSL, USL2 & USLW League records for
the highest-attended matches in league history (11,171 in June 2024 in
NPSL; 12,853 in USL2 & 7,298 in USLW in May 2025), and continuously matched
high average attendance levels with professional Soccer teams all over the
country at leagues two and three levels above them. On the pitch, Matthes
saw two regular season NPSL Championships and one Conference Championship
for the Men’s team and one regular season Championship for the Women’s team
in their first year in USLW. His other accomplishments off the pitch,
included arranging a Training Center host location, scheduling all Team
transportation, setting up the Ticketing platforms, creating the home and
away schedules for matches while working with League administration for
USL2/USLW and NPSL, working with a full-time staff based in Annapolis
handling Sponsorship, Ticketing, Marketing, Broadcast, Operations, and
heading up several Community projects that led the Club to be received
favorably throughout the Chesapeake Region.
“I’m incredibly proud of what we have built at Annapolis Blues FC, both on
and off the pitch” Matthes said in a release issued by the team. “In just
three years, we made history at the lower divisions in American Soccer by
taking the ideas of Opportunity, Community and Equality and blending them
all into an organization that represents Annapolis so well, and I’m
incredibly grateful to our ownership group, led by Michael Hitchcock, our
professional staff in all areas, our coaches & players, the people at
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, and most importantly, our fans, whose
passion and tremendous support from day one have helped to make the Blues
so iconic in the Annapolis area and beyond.”
“I am so impressed by our younger executives, led by my Assistant General
Manager, Steven Hooper, who never backed down from any challenges and never
accepted the premise as a Club that just because we were considered lower
division Soccer, that we couldn’t have a professional level product both on
and off the pitch, and throughout the community that could also be envied
nationwide.”
From Community Outreach, led by Devin Pugh, that gave us a year-round
presence everywhere at events and continually working with local charities
and organizations to our season ticket and new Membership initiatives led
by Kaitlyn McComb, we have always been visible and accessible to all of our
fans and supporters, no matter when.” also adding, “Our Sponsorship levels
are second to none at this level led by Steven and assisted by Luke
Mueller, and our Team Merchandise, as handled by Kyle Cullen, has been a
true hit and worn and seen by people everywhere, including on television on
Soccer programs like CBS Golazo !” … “And our “Navy of Interns”, that
join us each season that take on.a multitude of tasks with tireless
enthusiasm and spirit throughout the season can always be counted on. With
the advent of our Women’s team, and an American Soccer icon in Jim Gabarra
joining us, one of those interns, Brooke Lewis, stepped up to take on
multiple duties for the Team and Club.” At the Stadium, Phil Wrye, a
veteran of almost 30 years in Minor League Baseball, led the Operations
team at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium to assist with working with Bill
Givens, Jon Gren, Damisi Price, and the entire team from the Naval Academy
Athletic Association.”
While having a background in several sports front offices, from the NBA’s
Washington Bullets, to almost two decades with D.C. United where he met
Hitchcock, and where Matthes began at the outset of Major League Soccer
(MLS) in 1995 after being a Volunteer with the 1994 World Cup in
Washington, DC. Matthes had also helped to build other USL and NWSL Clubs
such as Sacramento Republic FC, New Mexico United, Fresno FC, Washington
Freedom and Spirit from the outset. He also worked with North Carolina FC,
North Carolina Courage, Virginia Beach City FC and consulted to several
other Soccer clubs and Soccer business entities. “When Hitch first spoke
to me back in 2022, I wasn’t really looking to take on another start up
Club, but as talks continued on, he eventually said, “What I really need is
an experienced General Manager, one that has done this before …” “Hitch
can be pretty persuasive”, claimed Matthes, and the role that was initially
going to be for just a year, lasted three successful seasons.
On the pitch, the Blues have been led by Colin Herriot, now in his 4th
season coming up in 2026, and was named as NPSL Coach of the Year in 2023,
the Blues’ Inaugural Season, when they won the Mid-Atlantic Regular season
Championship in 2023 & 2024, and by Ashly Kennedy on the Women’s side since
2025, where she immediately took the team to a Mid-Atlantic Championship
and Conference Final and was named USLW Coach of the Year. “Working with
Colin and Ashly has been a truly invigorating experience for me on the
Team-side of the Club, and getting to know Colin from Year One as we began,
he really set the tone for what the Annapolis Blues FC culture would
ultimately become based around … A professional atmosphere in all ways,
and making the players proud to put on the shirt and play their hearts out
for the Club, and for the Fans, and the City of Annapolis at all times.” I
have been so proud to also see the development of all of the players that
have grasped that ‘Opportunity’ to be seen at higher levels and make the
most out of it”
Annapolis Blues FC has already placed players on to MLS and USL Women’s
Premier League rosters in their short history.
Matthes plans to continue staying active and involved with the Club beyond
his new role, and will be a regular at Blues match Tailgates, in the
stands, and talking with fans in Annapolis. “As I have been saying, I’m not
really stepping down, just stepping aside, and look forward to watching
Steven and Jim take the reins from here to continue building upon what we
have accomplished thus far with this very special Soccer Club in the
American Soccer Pyramid … Let’s Go Blues !”