Rapids coach Clavijo leaves club

Aug 20, 2008 - 6:05 PM COMMERCE CITY, Colorado (Ticker) -- The Colorado Rapids announced Wednesday that coach Fernando Clavijo is leaving the team due to personal reasons.

Last week, Clavijo returned to his native Uruguay to attend to a family medical emergency.

Named coach prior to the 2005 season, Clavijo exits the Rapids with a 40-49-25 regular-season record and 1-3-2 playoff mark.

"We appreciate all that Fernando has done for this team over the last four years and wish him and his family the best," Rapids managing director Jeff Plush said. "He has worked tirelessly on behalf of our organization and brought us some of our greatest successes."

The Rapids announced assistant Gary Smith would assume the club's head coaching position for the remainder of the season on an interim basis. Smith ran the club in Saturday's 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Wizards.

Colorado (7-10-3), which has won just twice since June 7, is in fourth place in the Western Conference.