Englishman Seb Hines has been around Orlando City SC since its inaugural year in Major League Soccer. Following the end of his playing days for the Lions, he turned his attention to coaching for the club’s women’s side, the Orlando Pride. Hines had coached in an unofficial capacity for the Pride since their days under former boss Tom Sermanni, but, on May 28, the Pride officially made him an assistant coach.
Hines helped Sermanni with individual-specific training sessions and player scouting, and those duties carried over to second-year Pride Head Coach Marc Skinner’s staff.
“Seb is a wonderful addition for the Pride team,” Skinner said, per the official release. “His playing experience in the Premier League and for Orlando City adds a greater breadth of skills to our coaching team. He is extremely well-respected by the players and will provide high-level insights to help the team progress towards our targets.
“Above all, Seb possesses a team-first attitude, and he showed this by assisting the club throughout the whole of last season. We are always looking for ways to develop a high-level support structure for our players, and Seb is a key character within this plan.”
Hines helped the Lions draw 1-1 with New York City FC in their inaugural MLS match on March 8, 2015. He joined Orlando City via loan from English side Middlesbrough FC. After his loan expired, Orlando City extended his contract for the remainder of the 2015 season. In two seasons for the Lions, Hines played in 32 games and scored four times.
From 2005 to 2015, Hines played for Middlesbrough, making his first-team debut on Jan. 16, 2007, in the third round of the FA Cup against Hull City. Hines scored his first professional goal, the first goal of the match, in a 4-3 Middlesbrough victory. In total, Hines made 69 appearances and scored three goals.
While with Middlesbrough, Hines was loaned to other teams four times: In 2009, Hines was sent to Derby County FC for a month before another loan sent him to Oldham Athletic AFC for another month. He played in four games for Oldham before returning to Middlesbrough. Five years later, Hines made nine appearances for Coventry City FC on loan before eventually playing for in Central Florida.
Hines played in 17 matches total across his times with the English U-16, U-17 and U-19 men’s national teams.
“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to start my professional coaching career as a member of the Pride staff, and [I] would like to thank the club for the opportunity,” Hines said, per the official release. “Orlando has become home for me and my family, and I’m very excited to be able to use my knowledge and experience to bring a championship to this club and city.
“To have the opportunity to work with a number of world-class athletes and a great technical staff is one that I do not take lightly, and I look forward to seeing all that we can accomplish.”
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