A Major League Soccer and U.S. Men’s National Team veteran was named Tuesday as a top executive for Los Angeles’ new MLS franchise.
John Thorrington, who played in Europe for eight years before playing nine years in the MLS, winning a U.S. Open Cup Championship with D.C. United in 2013, will serve as the Los Angeles Football Club’s executive vice president of soccer operations.
“Having played both in the U.S. and internationally, John brings an unparalleled depth of insight and experience to our club,” LAFC president/owner Tom Penn said. “John knows our game, he knows our league and is the right soccer mind to build our team on a global level.”
Los Angeles Football Club is expected to begin playing in 2018 at a planned $250 million, 22,000-seat stadium on the site of the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Exposition Park. The team was announced last year as a replacement for the disbanded Chivas USA soccer club, which played for 10 years at StubHub Center in Carson, sharing the facility with the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Thorrington spent the last two years as a special assistant to the executive director of the MLS Players Union.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to help assemble a team that will represent our city and our community,” Thorrington said. “We want to put a team together that will excite our fans and bring another champion to the city of Los Angeles.”
—City News Service