Garth Lagerwey

Garth Lagerwey (born December 12, 1972) is a retired American soccer player who played five seasons in Major League Soccer as a goalkeeper. He became the general manager of Real Salt Lake in 2007 and stayed with the club before departing in 2015 for Seattle Sounders FC, where he served as general manager and president of soccer for seven years. Lagerwey joined Atlanta United FC as its president and CEO in November 2022.

Garth Lagerwey
Lagerwey in 2016
Personal information
Full name Garth E. Lagerwey
Date of birth (1972-12-12) December 12, 1972
Place of birth Elmhurst, Illinois, United States
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1990–1991 SC Freiburg
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1994 Duke Blue Devils
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993 Raleigh Flyers
1994 New Orleans
1995 Hampton Roads Mariners
1996 Kansas City Wiz 23 (0)
1997–1998 Dallas Burn 10 (0)
1997 → Hershey Wildcats (loan) 3 (0)
1998 → New Orleans (loan) 1 (0)
1999–2000 Miami Fusion 18 (0)
2000 → MLS Pro 40 (loan) 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Youth

Lagerwey grew up in Elmhurst, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, and played club soccer with the Chicago Magic.[1] He attended York High School, where he was a two time all-state soccer goalkeeper.[2] After graduating from high school in 1990, he moved to Germany and signed with SC Freiburg, spending a season with the reserve team before returning to the United States. Lagerwey entered Duke University and played on the men's soccer team from 1991 to 1994.[3] He graduated in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in history.

Playing career

In 1993, Lagerwey spent the collegiate off-season with the Raleigh Flyers in the USISL. He then played the 1994 season with the New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers, also in the USISL. In 1995, he signed with the Hampton Roads Mariners.

In February 1996, D.C. United selected Lagerwey in the 15th round (150th overall) of the 1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft. United then traded him to the Kansas City Wiz in exchange for Jeff Causey. Lagerwey was Kansas City's starting goalkeeper for much of the season, playing 23 games. In 1997, he moved to the Dallas Burn where he played only ten games over two seasons before being waived on October 31, 1998.[4] In 1997, the Burn sent him on loan to the Hershey Wildcats and in 1998, he went on loan to the Gamblers. The Colorado Rapids selected Lagerwey in the November 1998 waiver draft, but was waived on February 23, 1999.[5] He then signed with the Miami Fusion where he played mostly as a backup, but still entered 18 games to replace Jeff Cassar during injury spells.[6] The team waived him at the end of the 2000 season. Lagerwey retired from playing in 2000, having made 51 appearances in his five-year MLS career.[7]

Media and law

In 2000, Lagerwey became a guest columnist with Sports Illustrated while playing in Miami.[8][9] He graduated from the Georgetown University Law School in 2004 and was hired as an attorney with Latham & Watkins.[7] Lagerwey also worked as a television and radio commentator for D.C. United from 2001 to 2007 and later the New England Revolution.[7][10]

Management

On September 19, 2007, Real Salt Lake (RSL) announced Lagerwey was hired as the team's senior vice president and general manager, reuniting with Duke University teammate Jason Kreis, who had been named head coach in May.[11][12] He was hired by Dave Checketts through his attempt to sell a stake in the St. Louis Blues hockey team, which was handled by Latham & Watkins. At 35 years old, Lagerwey became the youngest general manager in MLS.[10][11] RSL went on to qualify for their first playoffs and win an MLS Cup title in 2009. The club then finished as runners-up in the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League and MLS Cup 2013.[8][13]

Lagerwey left RSL in December 2014 after seven seasons and moved to conference rivals Seattle Sounders FC amid other offers from MLS clubs.[14] He was retained by club members in their 2018 and 2022 votes by large margins. Since 2015, the Sounders have won two MLS Cup titles and the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League.[15] In 2022, Lagerwey won the Best Executive Award at the World Football Summit.[16]

On November 22, 2022, Atlanta United FC announced that it had hired Lagerwey as its president and CEO, replacing Darren Eales after his departure for Newcastle United F.C.[17] The announcement came a week after Lagerwey was retained by a vote of Sounders club members.[18]

References
  1. McCarthy, Jack (December 7, 2013). "Grabavoy loves Real Salt Lake career". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  2. Chunga, John Paul (May 23, 2013). "RSL has plenty of ties to Chicago". Real Salt Lake. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  3. Duke media Guide
  4. Saturday's Sports Transactions
  5. RAPIDS WAIVE GOALKEEPER GARTH LAGERWEY
  6. Fonteboa, Pedro F. (April 22, 2000). "Fusion heads west hoping to end scoring drought". The Miami Herald. p. C3. Retrieved November 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Garth Lagerwey". Seattle Sounders FC. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  8. Wahl, Grant (November 8, 2019). "MLS's Ultimate Contender Builder Lagerwey Has Come a Long Way". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  9. Lagerwey, Garth (June 14, 2000). "Lagerwey or the highway". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 2012-02-19. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
  10. Firchau, Nick (July 19, 2008). "Real Salt Lake finally afloat with Lagerwey". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on August 5, 2008. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  11. Edward, James (September 19, 2007). "Real Salt Lake hires Lagerwey as new general manager". Deseret News. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  12. Straus, Brian (December 15, 2014). "Seattle Sounders hire Garth Lagerwey after successful spell as RSL GM". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  13. Edward, James (December 4, 2013). "Real Salt Lake: Rebuilding the roster laid foundation for RSL's playoff run". Deseret News. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  14. Straus, Brian (February 19, 2015). "After helping create RSL's identity, Garth Lagerwey adds to own in Seattle". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  15. Evans, Jayda (November 16, 2022). "Garth Lagerwey voted to remain as Sounders GM by Alliance Members". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  16. "Sounders executive Garth Lagerwey earns world honor". The Seattle Times. September 20, 2022. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  17. Roberson, Doug (November 22, 2022). "Atlanta United hires Garth Lagerwey as president". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
  18. Evans, Jayda (November 22, 2022). "Sounders president and CEO Garth Lagerwey leaving to join Atlanta United". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
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