Former Vancouver Whitecaps coach Vanni Sartini is back in football, this time on the East Coast.

The 49-year-old Italian, fired by the Whitecaps in November 2024, resurfaced Wednesday as head coach and general manager of the Canadian Premier League's Halifax Wanderers.

"I was very eager to come back — 2025 has been the first year of my life that I haven't been, Iet's say, employed. I didn't have a team," Sartini said in an interview.

"I was starting to coach my cats at home," he added with a laugh. "So for my mental health, it's good that I have a team next year."

Halifax parted ways with coach Patrice Gheisar on Oct. 24 in the wake of the club’s penalty shootout loss to visiting York United (now Inter Toronto FC) in a CPL play-in game.

Halifax president and founder Derek Martin said

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