HERRIMAN, Utah (Thursday, April 2, 2026) - Real Salt Lake Academy announced today that it has hired former MLS midfielder Lewis Neal as its U18 Head Coach. Neal fills the void left by Phil Cousins who joined Mark Lowry’s Real Monarchs staff earlier this year in a chain reaction of internal promotions.
“We’re beyond excited to welcome Lewis to the RSL family,” stated RSL Academy General manager Colton Atkin. “From the moment we expressed interest in bringing in Lewis, he’s exemplified quality in all that he does. Sharing our vision of ‘winning together through development,’ we’re confident Lewis will continue to develop our young men on and off the pitch."
The Leicester, England native started his professional career at Stoke City in 2000 making stops across the European continent before crossing the pond to join Orlando City in 2011. After one year in Orlando, Neil transferred to D.C. United before transferring back to finish his career in Orlando.
A familiar name to the RSL fanbase, in his time with DC United, Neal scored against the Claret-and-Cobalt in the 2013 Lamar Hunt Open Cup Final at then named “Rio Tinto Stadium”, the lone goal scored throughout the match.
After hanging up his boots in 2019 Neal started coaching in 2021 as an assistant on the Central Florida Panthers staff before moving to Miami FC of the USL championship to join then Head Coach and now RSL Assistant Anthony Pulis’ staff in 2022.
RSL Academy U18’s boast a 2-1-0 record under Neal in MLS NEXT regular season play defeating Seattle Sounders FC 2-1 and Dallas Hornets SC 4-0 before falling to San Jose Earthquakes 0-2 last weekend. Returning from Dallas, TX after competing in the 2026 Dallas Cup, The Claret-and-Cobalt finished third in U19 Super Group Bracket A collecting 4 points in its 1-1-1 and showing.
Real Salt Lake Academy is the official MLS NEXT affiliate of Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake. Leading MLS in all-time homegrown signees (49), RSL earlier this year welcomed Griffin Dillon, Van Parker, Diego Rocio and Antonio Riquelme to its 2026 class.
