With lots still happening in Los Angeles, many were, understandably, a bit concerned that Angel City FC remained fairly silent this offseason despite being one of the clubs in the NWSL that had the most to do. Coming into the offseason the club had several big openings to fill in regard to staff, several holes to fill in the roster, and with recent departures now have to worry about replacements. Yesterday, however, the team announced the first piece of the puzzle by naming their new Sporting Director, former head coach in the NWSL, Mark Parsons.
📰 #AngelCityFC announce Mark Parsons as the club’s new Sporting Director ahead of the 2025 NWSL season. Parsons will oversee soccer ops including technical staff, scouting & analytics department, sports medical, performance, nutrition, and player care. Welcome, Mark!
đź”— angelcity.com/acfc-post/an…
— Angel City FC (@angelcity.com) January 15, 2025 at 2:00 PM
“Mark brings exceptional experience in the domestic and global game,” said Julie Uhrman, co-founder and president of ACFC in a statement. “As we enter 2025 with the opening of our state-of-the-art 50,000-square-foot performance center, Mark will lead our sporting operations, driving our culture and championship ambitions alongside our outstanding leadership team and staff. Together, we aim to set a high standard for excellence—on and off the pitch—and we’re ready to bring home the championship in this exciting new chapter.”
“It is an honor to become part of Angel City Football Club, a trailblazing and ambitious organization setting new standards in the game,” Parsons shares in the release. “I am grateful to Willow, Bob, and Julie for their trust and look forward to working closely with ownership and the exceptional leadership team to build on the solid foundation they’ve established. My focus is to foster a culture of excellence, development, and togetherness that elevates ACFC to new heights, with the goal of bringing championships home to the city of Los Angeles.”
This is one of those hires that may not scream ‘home run’ when you first hear about it, but after some thought, this could actually be a really solid move for the club. A lot of the criticism of course, comes from Parson’s time as a head coach. While incredibly successful with Portland Thorns, many expected more in terms of NWSL Championships given the talented rosters he coached. His latest coaching stint with the Washington Spirit lasted only a year, and saw the Spirit struggle to find success, missing the playoffs and often playing pretty ugly football. We all see how that team looks under their new coach. That said, Parsons is still heavily responsible for the dynasty that was Portland Thorns.
In Portland, Parsons was critical in building and developing the club’s roster, acquiring several top USWNT and international players, including Sophia Smith, Sam Coffey, Lindsey Horan, Emily Sonnett, Ellie Carpenter, Amandine Henry, and Becky Sauerbrunn, as well as up-and-coming players such as Olivia Moultrie, Yazmeen Ryan, and Morgan Weaver. In his six seasons with the Thorns, Parsons won six trophies, with two NWSL Sheilds (2016, 2021) and the 2017 NWSL Championship. Perhaps what Angel City fans should be happy about, is that Parsons isn’t coming in to coach, he’s coming in to build. Again, this is the man heavily responsible for more than a handful of incredibly talented players landing in Portland and many are hopeful he can do the exact same in a major market like Los Angeles.
In a Q&A released by Angel City shortly after his hiring, Mark Parsons explains the next steps for him this offseason. “Connecting with my staff and our players. We’re in a position where we need to do a lot of important work on our technical staff—the most important is the head coach search—but in the short term, we need to have the best possible situation for our players to start pre-season, which we’ll be doing with Interim Head Coach Eleri Earnshaw, and a technical staff that have already incredible work under our technical director, Mark Wilson, and assistant GM, Matt Wade. To do that, I need to connect and listen and learn and get to know people.”
He continued, “Where we stand on head coach right now is, this is Angel City, this is Los Angeles. This is a team that, when we are successful, the world will be watching, and we will be taking that responsibility seriously and finding a candidate that can lead this talented group to a place that we want to get to. So we’re not going to rush. It’s about getting the best and right person.” That will be the biggest key to success in 2025, finding the right coach. Angel City FC come into their fourth season in the NWSL, already looking to hire their third head coach, so getting this decision right is paramount. With a Sporting Director in place, now the real work begins, and as preseason begins around the league, time is of the essence.
Thoughts on the new Sporting Director? Leave a comment below!