LAFC announced today that Larry Freedman and John Thorrington will officially share the role of LAFC Co-President, effective immediately. The two had been serving in interim roles since August.
Originally named LAFC’s first EVP of Soccer Operations and General Manager on December 8th, 2015, John Thorrington led LAFC to immediate on field success in its first season, as LAFC broke the all-time MLS record in points (57) for an expansion team, clinched the third spot in the Western Conference and reached the semifinals of the 2018 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. LAFC also became the first team in its inaugural season to win seven away matches (since the League instituted ties in 2000).
With even more on field success in year two, Thorrington constructed a roster that continued to break records, capturing the 2019 MLS Supporters’ Shield, while setting a new single-season points record (72) and tying the single-season team goals record (85), averaging 2.12 points per game with a league record of 21-4-9 – three more wins and two fewer losses than the next closest teams – and a whopping +48 goal differential.
In his third year overseeing the Club’s on-field success, Thorrington and company guided LAFC to the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for the third consecutive year. Since 2018, the Black & Gold leads the League in total regular season wins (46) and points (161) and became the first team in MLS history to defeat three Liga MX teams in the 2020 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League en route to an appearance in the CCL Final.
Larry Freedman, LAFC’s Chief Business Officer, who has been with the Club since 2014, was named the MLS 2019 Doug Hamilton Executive of the Year and a finalist for the 2020 World Football Summit Best Executive Award.
Under Freedman’s leadership LAFC has sold out every MLS home match in its history and LAFC and Banc of California Stadium have received numerous awards, including being named one of the Best Employers in Sports by Front Office Sports, to Fast Company's annual list of The World’s Most Innovative Companies, an IOC IPC IAKS Architecture Prize winner for outstanding accessible, sustainable and technical venue design and nominated as a finalist for the Sports Business Journal’s Sports Breakthrough of the Year and Sports Facility of the Year.
