Preparations for the 2025 NWSL campaign look to be in full swing for Angel City FC. Be it unveiling its new performance center just around the off-season or making new additions to the team, the Los Angeles, California-based club is plying their trade to become the best. Now with the release of the league schedule, ACFC was also compelled to unveil their much-anticipated coaching decision!

To remind you, coach Becki Tweed was sacked by the Willow Bay and Bob Iger-owned club just around the end of 2024 NWSL. The 35-year-old, who herself got promoted to head coach from interim head coach in June 2023 following the dismissal of former head coach Freya Coombe, couldn’t lead the team to a successful campaign. They finished 12th in the NWSL standings with a mere 24 points.

Since then, the managerial position has remained vacant; well, in reality, it remains unoccupied to this day, considering that ACFC has filled the spot temporarily—which brings us to their crucial coaching decision. Just hours ago, Angel City announced Sam Laity as their new interim boss. The decision was made following their preseason kick-off outside Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Talking more about the manager remaining in charge for the time being, Laity hails a significant amount of experience in his CV. From 2013 to 2022, he served as an assistant coach for the Seattle Reign under various head coaches before taking on the role of head coach for the Houston Dash in 2023.

Having coached more than 200 NWSL regular season and playoff games, he also stepped in as interim head coach during the 2021 season, leading the team to a 4-2-0 (W-L-D) record over six matches. Certainly, hearing his resume makes it important for him to at least try building the best he can for ACFC. That way, at least he gets a chance to stick around for more time as either interim or get a permanent head coach role by making a worthy impression.

Then again, in an exclusive word with Equalizer Soccer, new Angel City sporting director Mark Parsons emphasized that he wouldn’t rush the coaching search and even hinted at the possibility of making a hire after the season begins. So this gives Sam Laity a good amount of command at least for the foreseeable future and work accordingly. Speaking of which, let’s take a look at other developments and technicalities.

More about Angel City FC’s 2025 NWSL campaign preparations

Sam Laity will be working alongside assistant coach Eleri Earnshaw, interim goalkeeper coach Ludovic “Ludo” Antunes, technical assistant Mykell Bates, and performance analyst Oliver Blitz. All will remain in the loop with the club’s technical director Mark Wilson who has much greater responsibilities over the preparations for the upcoming season.

In the meantime, 21 active players will be training under this aforementioned staff at their recently unveiled performance center in Thousand Oaks, CA. Spanning 9 acres, Angel City’s new facility is the largest NWSL facility that any team boasts. Instead of constructing it from scratch, the club repurposed the space previously utilized by the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams.

The cherry on top also comes out to be the return of veterans Christen Press and Sydney Leroux, who both signed contract extensions with the club alongside forward Claire Emslie and defender M.A. Vignola. Indeed, such developments are crucial for them in their preparation for their preseason matches against Portland Thorns FC on Sunday, February 16 at 11:00 a.m. PT, and Seattle Reign FC on February 22 at 12:00 p.m. PT before they finally kick off with their inaugural 2025 NWSL clash against San Diego Waves on March 16.