Saint John's University named Tudor Flintham '06 its director of soccer – head coach on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. 

Flintham is one of the most successful active coaches in NCAA soccer with 153 victories as a Head Coach & is ranked #17 nationally for win percentage. He has won 8 MIAC championships as a coach & player. Led teams as far as the NCAA Elite 8 & as high as #3 nationally. While also participating in 13 NCAA National Tournament matches, including 5 NCAA runs in the past 7 seasons. Flintham was named NCAA North Region Coach of the Year in 2022, as well as MIAC Coach of the Year in both 2022 & 2018. His 2022 & 2024 teams put together separate 18-game undefeated streaks, to complete two invincible seasons. Meaning coach Flintham’s sides own 50% off all undefeated MIAC regular seasons. Flintham has produced 15 All-American award winners since 2018. 

Flintham’s first year in charge of the Johnnie (2025) saw one of the biggest program turnarounds in NCAA history. SJU more than doubled its win total & the 13 victories was the second-best total in program history. It was also good for 2^nd best NPI turnaround in the country, improving its national ranking by 156 places. SJU had the most wins since 2014, the best win percentage since 2015, the most home wins in a decade, & finished the regular season #3 nationally for points per game. Flintham’s team set program records for goals in a season (57), assists (73), points (187), took the conference record for MIAC Athlete of the Week (7), & also provided the two best ranked wins in program history. Winning 5-2 vs #3 & 2-1 vs #6 in what will be remembered as an instant MIAC classic. 

Additionally, Ronan O’Connor broke the 51-year-old record for goals in a season by netting 20. Good for #2 in the country & giving him the #6 best individual season in the past 55 years of MIAC soccer (Flintham’s former player Cole Schwartz owns #1 after he scored 24 goals in 2019). The 20 goals, 10 assists & 50 points also placed Ronan as #2 nationally for overall points.  

Flintham on returning to Saint John’s to reignite the program: 
“I am excited and honored to rejoin the Saint John’s community, as well as lead this new era of a historic program like Johnnie Soccer,” Flintham said. “Throughout this process I was convinced thoroughly that SJU is committed to this team being not just good, but great. I want to thank everyone who was involved in that process who made me feel so welcomed and reassured that our ambitions are fully aligned.”
 
“As an alum of this program, I feel I have a clear vision of what this place can be,” Flintham added. “During my time as a player, we were ranked as high as No. 6 in the country, set the NCAA-era program record for wins in a season and won the MIAC playoff championship in its third year of implementation. 

“Johnnie soccer is a sleeping giant. It’s not only a program that should be perennially competing at the top of the MIAC, but nationally. That’s the mandate we now have. We have a lot of work to do. But that change has happened fast wherever I have been, and I am excited to reestablish Johnnie soccer as a household name around the North Region and Division III.”
 

Prior to Saint John’s University:

Tudor Flintham served as the as head men’s soccer coach at Gustavus Adolphus College where he transformed the program from an also-ran to #3 in NCAA & won 5 MIAC championships in his 6 full seasons.  Flintham directed the Gusties to a 92-20-18 (.777) record with five MIAC championships – four regular-season (2018, 2019, 2022, 2024) and one playoff (2019) – and five NCAA Division III tournament appearances (2018-19, 2022-24). GAC hosted NCAA Regionals in 2022 and 2024. Flintham’s 47-6-7 (.842) in conference play places him as the most successful coach in program history. 

The two-time MIAC Coach of the Year (2018 and 2022) had his program ranked No. 1 in the North Region and in the top 20 nationally in each season he was at the helm. GAC was ranked as high as No. 3 nationally in 2024 and in the top eight in each of the past three seasons. Flintham’s side was regionally ranked in 50-consecutive polls and No. 1 39 times. Something never before achieved in the MIAC. The Gusties completed two undefeated regular seasons with two 18-game unbeaten streaks in the last three years.

GAC posted a 47-6-7 (.842) record in MIAC play and produced 22 All-MIAC honorees, 15 All-Americans, 19 All-Region selections and three MIAC players of the year (offensive or defensive). In the classroom, 24 Gusties earned Academic All-District/All-Region honors, seven of which were Academic All-Americans, during his tenure.

in 2024 GAC won the #1 seed & MIAC regular-season title with an 8-0-2 record and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 16-2-3 mark. They were also ranked #3 nationally. In 2023 the Gusties reached the MIAC playoff championship game and the NCAA second round with an 11-4-7 record, while being ranked as high as #5. In 2022, Gustavus was ranked #5 nationally, ended the regular season undefeated, went to the NCAA Elite-8, and finished with a 15-2-6 (9-0-1 MIAC) record. In 2019 Flintham led the Gusties to an 18-3-1 (9-1-0 MIAC) record and a sweep of both the MIAC’s regular season and playoff titles in just his second season (2019). In 2018 Flintham won the MIAC regular-season championship in his first year. 

Other coaching experiences:

Flintham was the associate head coach at SJU from 2010-14 and also served as an assistant coach at Saint Benedict from 2012-14. The Johnnies totaled a 46-34-11 record (28-16-6 MIAC) with two MIAC Playoff championship game appearances during his five seasons on staff, while the Bennies went 37-13-6 (23-9-1 MIAC) in their three seasons with MIAC regular-season and playoff titles, and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2013.

He is also the associate head coach of Minneapolis City SC in the USL2, the largest pre-professional soccer organization in the state, and works with high school student-athletes as a coach with the Elite Club National League’s (ECNL) Minnesota Thunder Academy.

Prior to Gustavus, Flintham served as the head coach for both the men’s and women’s soccer programs at Nebraska Wesleyan University for three seasons (2015-17). The Prairie Wolves combined for 49 wins in the three seasons, including 33 shutouts. In 2017, the men’s team went 11-7-1 and won its first postseason game in 20 years.

A native of Norwich, England, Flintham received his bachelor's degree in sociology from SJU in 2006. He registered 59 points (20g/19a) in 64 career games for the Johnnies from 2002-05. Flintham captained SJU to an MIAC playoff championship, led the conference in both goals and assists, and earned All-MIAC, Academic All-MIAC and All-Region honors in 2005. He earned his master's degree in sport management from St. Cloud State University in 2014.

After growing up in the English academy system, Flintham came to the United States for the first time with The Saints FC (a Southampton FC associated squad) where, as a player and coach, he won three consecutive USA Cups.

From 2008-10, Flintham was head girls’ soccer coach at Valley Catholic High School in Beaverton, Ore., and the program director and head coach for FC Portland Soccer Academy in Hillsboro, Ore. At Valley Catholic, he collected a 29-4-4 record and was named the 2008 NSCAA Oregon High School State Coach of the Year and was a two-time Oregon District 1 Coach of the Year.

Flintham and his wife, Theresa Naumann (CSB ’08), reside in Rogers. Theresa played volleyball at CSB and was a member of two NCAA Division III Tournament teams, advancing as far as the Sweet 16 in 2005, and served as a senior captain in 2007. She is currently the Director of Admission at DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis.