COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — The Colorado Rapids today announced the coaching staff, including two new additions, ahead of the 2026 Major League Soccer season. Alastair Harris and Rob Burch will join the club as assistant coaches under new Rapids Head Coach Matt Wells. Chris Sharpe, Elliot Prost, Drew Moor, Matt Gordon, and Padraic Farrell round out Wells’ staff.
Harris joins Colorado with more than 15 years of experience across the Premier League and English football pyramid. Most recently, he was at AFC Bournemouth and was responsible for the physical output of the squad, specifically in relation to the pressing element of the club’s game model. Prior to that, Harris spent over a decade with Fulham FC, progressing through multiple senior roles supporting first-team performance before becoming one of Scott Parker’s key assistants. Across his career, Harris has led high-performance program design and individual player profiling, but his true skill set lies in his understanding and coaching of high intensity pressing game models.
Burch brings extensive experience as both a former professional player, a goalkeeping coach and an elite-level set play coach in promotion-winning teams. Most recently, he served as First Team Goalkeeping Coach at Tottenham Hotspur, working under head coach Ange Postecoglou following previous coaching roles with the club and England national teams. Prior to his return to Tottenham, Burch was part of the coaching staff at Fulham FC and AFC Bournemouth, leading the set play strategy in the promotion campaigns for each club. As a player, Burch came through Tottenham’s academy system and enjoyed a decade-long professional career across the English Football Leagues. He is also a former England Under-20 international, bringing a strong foundation in elite player development to his coaching work.
“I’m so pleased that Ally and Rob have accepted positions to join our coaching team ahead of the 2026 season,” Rapids Head Coach Matt Wells said. “In Ally, we’ve managed to secure an outstanding coach who has a world class understanding of the physical requirements that underpin proactive dynamic game models. He will be a huge part of enhancing our tactical performance with and without the ball as we look to dominate games on a consistent basis with high intensity. Rob is an excellent set-play coach, and in collaboration with Chris Sharpe, he will drive our set-play performance as we aim to deliver a world-class coaching program to our squad. I’m a coach that wants to dominate in all aspects, so I’m very excited to have two professionals of the caliber of Rob and Chris driving the standards around our restarts. Outside of Set Plays, Rob’s extensive experience working in the Premier League with world class players will help us create the high-performance development environment we are aiming for. Together with the returning members of staff, this coaching group will drive world class standards every single day in our bid to create something truly special.”
Remaining on Wells’ staff from the club’s 2025 technical group are Assistant Coach and Director of Goalkeeping Chris Sharpe, Assistant Coach Elliot Prost, and First Team Analysts Matt Gordon and Padraic Farrell. Combined, the coaching staff will provide an elite level of MLS experience, with a new perspective, all aligned to create a winning style of play.
Sharpe, an Australian native, joined the Rapids in 2008 as a player and transitioned into coaching as an assistant goalkeeping coach in 2013 before moving into an assistant coach role in 2014. Burch and Sharpe work together on set pieces for the club, with Burch focusing on the attacking output and Sharpe concentrating on the defense.
Prost enters his second year with the first team after joining the Colorado Rapids in 2021 as an Academy coach working with the club’s U-17 age group. Moor will continue his role within the club as Development Coach, where he assists across all levels of the club. Gordon enters his third season with the first team after being added as a video analyst in 2024, following his time in the same role with Rapids 2. Farrell enters his second year with the first team after being named First Team Video Analyst in 2025, following his time in the same role with Rapids 2 beginning in 2023.
Additionally, former First Team Assistant Coach Chris Little and Assistant Coach Ian Sarachan have departed the club. Little has joined the technical staff at Nashville SC, while Sarachan has accepted a role with Butler University. The club thanks both Little and Sarachan for their contributions and wishes them the best moving forward.