MONTREAL – CF Montréal announced Monday the appointment of Sandro Grande as head coach of its reserve team. He will be supported by assistant coach Patrick Viollat.
"We are very pleased to have Sandro join the Academy. He is a quality coach who has gained a lot of experience and has grown over the past 10 years. Through our collaboration over the past two years with FC Laval as a CIP partner club, he has demonstrated his professional maturity. He is passionate about our sport and developing players, and the Club remains close to his heart," said CF Montréal Academy Director Marinos Papageorgopoulos. “He has the skills to properly develop the talent here so that our youth can reach the next level."
“I am very grateful and happy to have the opportunity to return to the Club I have loved since my childhood," said Sandro Grande. “I made some serious mistakes several years ago and I offer my sincere apologies to those whom my past comments have offended in any way. I have learned a lot from them, and I know that I am joining an organization where the values of inclusion and diversity are fundamental. I think it is important to use our personal experiences to continually improve and correct our past mistakes."
"I have worked with local clubs, at Collège Montmorency, with boys and girls, and I am confident that I have gained a lot of maturity and experience,” added Grande. “This background allows me to accept these new responsibilities and to come back to the Club to contribute to the CF Montréal project. My vision of development is similar on many levels to that of the organization’s. I am already looking forward to working with our youth to achieve our goals."
Grande had been serving as FC Laval's technical director since October 2021. He previously served as technical director of Les Étoiles de l'Est from 2011 to 2019. He also served as the head of the men's and women's soccer programs at Collège Montmorency, from July 2017 to January 2021. During his playing career, Grande played for the Montreal Impact in the 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009 USL seasons. The former midfielder also had a few stints in Europe, including Italy, Scandinavia and Lithuania. Grande holds the UEFA A coaching license.
Patrick Viollat was until now technical director of the Concordia Regional Soccer Association, where he also held head coaching positions from 2009 to 2016 and from 2019 to now. He also served as technical director of the Lac St-Louis Regional Soccer Association from 2016 to 2019. Additionally, he was assistant coach for the Women’s and Men’s teams at McGill University since 2012. Viollat earned a master's degree in Sports Physical Activity from Grenoble University in 2003.
Note that the name of the team at the top of the Academy’s pyramid will now be called CF Montréal Reserve (formerly CF Montréal U23) to better reflect the age of the players in this group who play below the professional team in MLS.
CF Montréal Reserve plays in the Première ligue de soccer du Québec (PLSQ). In its inaugural season in the PLSQ last year, the team finished sixth in the standings with a record of 12-8-2.
