Josh Alderson is in his third season as the head coach of the Tritons. He was named the fifth coach in program history on Jan. 18, 2023.
Last season he led UMSL to a three-win improvement with a record of 7-5-6 including 5-3-6 in the GLVC and the program's first appearance in the GLVC Tourament since 2021.
In his first season he guided the Tritons to a 4-9-2 record including 3-9-1 in the GLVC. He picked up his first victory as a collegiate head coach with a 4-2 at Central Methodist.
Alderson spent 10 years as a player and a coach at Lenoir-Rhyne University in North Carolina. He played four years as a defender for the Bears and has spent the past six seasons as an assistant coach. During his time on staff Lenoir-Rhyne posted a record of 56-30-9 and 34-17-9 in the South Atlantic Conference.
Alderson began his coaching career with the Bears as a graduate assistant and was promoted to a full-time assistant coach in the summer of 2020. Alderson also served as the head coach of the JV program the past three seasons.
He helped guide the Bears to the program’s first SAC Regular Season Championship in team history in 2018, the SAC Tournament title in 2022 and three NCAA Tournament appearances in 2017, 2021 and 2022.
Alderson also spent the Spring and Summer of 2022 serving as an assistant coach with Appalachian Football Club in the National Premier Soccer League. He helped guide the team to the 2022 Southeast Conference Regular Season championship, the conference tournament championship and a national quarterfinalist appearance.
As a player, Alderson helped the Bears to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2016 and the program’s second-ever NCAA Tournament win that year. Alderson helped the Bears past Tusculum 3-1 in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament as a six seed. He ranks sixth in program history in matches played with 71 and was a 2016 Second Team All-South Atlantic Conference selection. Alderson was the team captain for the 2015 and 2016 seasons and was also a United Soccer Coaches All-Region selection in 2016.
He is from Formby, England, and played for Blackburn Rovers and Barnsley whilst in England prior to coming to the States. During the 2015 and 2017 summers, Alderson played in the USL PDL for Springfield Synergy (Missouri) and West Virginia Chaos (West Virginia) respectively, captaining the Chaos and finishing third both seasons. He has also coached North Carolina ODP and club soccer with Catawba Valley Youth Soccer Association.
Alderson received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Lenoir-Rhyne. He received his undergraduate degree in Business Management and Marketing in 2017 and his graduate degree in Business Administration, Non-Profit Management in 2020. He has United Soccer Federation D, E and F Licenses and a Football Association Level 2 license in the United Kingdom.
Alderson married his wife, Erin, in 2019. They met during their time as student-athletes at Lenoir-Rhyne.
Year-by-Year with Josh Alderson
| Year |
Institution |
Overall |
Conference |
| 2023 |
Missouri-St. Louis |
4-9-2 |
3-9-1 |
| 2024 |
Missouri-St. Louis |
7-5-6 |
5-3-6 |
|
Totals as Head Coach |
11-14-8 |
8-12-7 |
