After seven years spent building Real Salt Lake into one of the most successful franchises in Major League Soccer, Garth Lagerwey wanted a new challenge.
He’s certainly found one in the form of the top personnel post with the Seattle Sounders, who announced Tuesday that they’ve added one of the most successful General Managers in MLS to one of the league’s top front offices.
Lagerwey comes to Seattle after helping RSL evolve from a Western Conference cellar dweller in 2007 into a perennial playoff contender. Under Lagerwey’s watch, the club won the MLS Cup in 2009 and finished runner-up in 2013, appeared in the CONCACAF Championship League final in 2011 and made seven consecutive postseason appearances between 2008-2014, the best active streak in the league.
“I’ve done the rebuilding thing,” Lagerwey told MLSsoccer.com. “I came into RSL when they were at the very bottom and they were totally broken and built it from nothing...I’ve gone through that process. I think the question for me was, ‘What are the opportunities that are out there?’ I thought of the ones that were, Seattle was clearly the best. And I actually didn’t interview anywhere else other than Seattle.
“I’ve been at RSL for seven years and we’ve done some really good things,” he added. “But I felt like for my career, I really needed to move on.”
After acting as the architect for a franchise turn-around in Salt Lake, Lagerwey takes over a Seattle team coming off its most successful season in franchise history. The Sounders won the US Open Cup and Supporters’ Shield in 2014 and were a road goal against the LA Galaxy away from advancing to MLS Cup and having a shot at a historic treble.
In addition to his duties as general manager, Lagerwey will also serve as president of soccer operations, meaning he will be the senior decision-maker on personnel moves and roster decisions. Lagerwey was vice president of soccer operations for RSL.
Lagerwey’s signing also spells a role change for Seattle minority owner Adrian Hanauer, who has acted as the club’s general manager for the past six seasons. Hanauer will retain his ownership stake and focus his attention on the business end of the team.
Like Hanauer before him, Lagerwey assumes a position that is subject to fan vote every four years as part of the Sounders FC Alliance Charter.
Lagerwey said the prospect of working with Hanauer, Seattle scouting director Chris Henderson and head coach Sigi Schmid was an additional factor that played into his decision to make the move to the Northwest.
“[Seattle] have a lot of resources and I think they’re very ambitious,” Lagerwey said. “They’re working on a global scale to build the club and build the brand and I think those types of challenges are really exciting.”
