Greg Vanney (born June 11, 1974) is an American former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player and head coach of the

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. A defender and one of MLS's original players, Vanney spent 10 seasons in the league and another three-and-a-half in the French First Division playing for

Sporting Club de Bastia Sporting Club Bastiais ( co, Sporting Club di Bastia, commonly referred to as SC Bastia or simply Bastia) is a Corsican association football club based in Bastia on the island of Corsica. The club plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of French ...

between 2002 and 2005. He also earned 36 caps, scoring one goal, with the U.S. national team between 1996 and 2006. In 2017, as coach of Toronto FC, Vanney won the domestic treble by winning the MLS Cup,

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 19 ...

and the

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contest ...

Playing career

High school and college

Vanney played soccer for Marcos de Niza High School in Tempe, Arizona, and led the team to three consecutive state championship titles in 1990, 1991, and 1992. Vanney holds the school record for most assists by one player in a season with 13 for the 1990–1991 season, and also holds the school record for most goals by one player in a single season with 33 goals for the 1991–1992 season. He was also named the 5A player of the year for the 1991–1992 season,

Gatorade Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine playe ...

, NSCAA and Parade All-America in 1992. Greg Vanney played college soccer for Florida International University in 1992, and for UCLA from 1993 to 1995. In 1995, Vanney was named All-America honorable mention and finished his senior season with 8 goals and 10 assists.

Professional

Vanney was drafted 17th overall in the

1996 MLS College Draft The 1996 Major League Soccer College Draft was held on March 4, 1996, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. History As Major League Soccer prepared for its first season, the league began stocking teams with players. As the teams were being created at the s ...

by the Los Angeles Galaxy. The team sent him on loan to the

Sacramento Scorpions The Sacramento Scorpions was a USISL American soccer team that played in Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize ...

of USISL for three games at the beginning of the season where he netted three goals in three games including two game winners. Vanney played for the Galaxy for six years, from 1996 to 2001, and was consistently one of the best defenders in MLS, leading the Galaxy to three MLS Cup Finals and two CONCACAF Champion's Cup Finals. He was named to the MLS Best XI in both 2000 and 2001, and an MLS All-Star in 2001. After the 2001 MLS season, Vanney transferred to the French First Division club SC Bastia. In the first six months with Bastia, Vanney helped lead the French club to its first appearance in the Coupe de France Final in over 20 years. He left the club in 2005, coming back to MLS and signing with FC Dallas. After two seasons with the Hoops, and two All-Star selections, Vanney was traded to Colorado on January 12, 2007. On June 29, 2007, he was traded from the Rapids to D.C. United. On February 15, 2008, the rights for Vanney were transferred to his first club, the Los Angeles Galaxy. Vanney announced his retirement from the professional game on October 26, 2008; his last game against his former club FC Dallas.

International

Vanney also spent 11 years as a member of the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

, debuting December 21, 1996 against

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

, and played 36 games and scored one goal (September 2005). Vanney participated in three FIFA World Cup qualifying cycles for the United States (1998, 2002 and 2006). He was originally named as an alternate for the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

but initially replaced the injured Chris Armas on the roster after the midfielder picked up an ACL injury in a warm-up friendly against Uruguay on May 12, 2002. Vanney was himself injured in the next warm-up friendly on May 16, 2002, against Jamaica and was replaced on the roster by

Steve Cherundolo Steven Emil Cherundolo (born February 19, 1979) is an American soccer coach and former player who serves as head coach of Major League Soccer side Los Angeles FC. A right-back, he was the captain of Hannover 96 of the German Bundesliga, whe ...

. Vanney also was a member of the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup Championship team and was featured in the early part of

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

qualifying for the United States.

Coaching career

Early career

Vanney has more than 15 years experience in youth soccer: coaching, directing and consulting. He holds a USSF "A" Coaching License and has been actively involved with the U.S. Soccer Development Academy as a scout and other programming. Vanney was a member of the U.S. Soccer Education Staff that traveled to Spain in March 2010. Vanney was an Academy Director for Real Salt Lake from 2008 to 2011. Vanney and his staff, with the support of Grande Sports World and Real Salt Lake, established the first MLS Residential Academy in the United States in fewer than 8 months. The U-18 and U-16 boys teams began play in Fall 2010. Greg Vanney moved back to Arizona in 2008. For some time, he held two titles: (1.) Director of Soccer Operations at Grande Sports World in

Casa Grande, Arizona , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Casa Grande-Casa Grande Union High School-1920-2.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Historic Casa Grande Union High School which now serves as the ...

and (2.) Director of the Real Salt Lake-Arizona Youth Academy. As Director of Soccer Operations, Vanney oversaw program and event development at the Grande Sports World facility featuring 8 professional quality fields; state-of-the-art performance center with 4 stadium quality locker rooms; weight room, physical therapy and 16 classrooms. In the first year, Vanney has help attract four professional teams ( Real Salt Lake,

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

, Colorado Rapids, and Vancouver Whitecaps FC) to the facility to host their preseason camps. In January 2011, Vanney joined Chivas USA as an assistant coach.

Toronto FC

Vanney got his first head coaching job in

when he became the ninth head coach for Toronto FC after Ryan Nelsen was dismissed on August 31, 2014, with 10 games remaining in the 2014 regular season. He inherited a 9–9–6 record. In his debut match, Toronto lost 1–0 to the

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 201 ...

. His first win came in a match that finished 3–0 against Chivas USA. He finished off the 2014 season in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with a record of two wins, six losses and two ties. Toronto were eliminated from the

during the 2015 season, although they qualified for the playoffs for the first time that season, after finishing sixth in the Eastern Conference. The club's rivals Montreal Impact eliminated Toronto in the knockout round. During the 2016 season, Toronto won the

and qualified for the playoffs after finishing in third place in the Eastern Conference. They got to the MLS Cup final where they lost in shoot-out 5–4 to Seattle Sounders following a goalless draw after extra-time. The arrival of Spanish playmaker Victor Vázquez in midfield at the beginning of the 2017 season saw less responsibility placed on the club's star forward

Sebastian Giovinco Sebastian Giovinco (; born 26 January 1987) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward. A quick and creative player on the ball, Giovinco was a versatile forward capable of playing in multiple offensive positions. Gio ...

and captain Michael Bradley to create Toronto's goalscoring opportunities, and this in turn freed up the Italian, enabling him to focus more on his attacking game; furthermore, Greg Vanney's switch in tactics from a

4–4–2 In association football, the formation of a team refers to the position players take in relation to each other on a pitch. As association football is a fluid and fast-moving game, a player's position (with the exception of the goalkeeper) in a ...

diamond to a 3–5–2 formation benefitted Giovinco's and Jozy Altidore's attacking partnership: by playing closer together, and with Vázquez now supporting them as the team's main creator, the attacking duo began to demonstrate a deeper understanding and an increased awareness of each other's movements, which improved their link-up play, and saw an increase in Altidore's goalscoring output throughout the season. On June 27, Toronto defeated Montreal 2–1 at home in the second leg of the

2017 Canadian Championship The 2017 Canadian Championship was a soccer tournament hosted and organized by the Canadian Soccer Association. It was the tenth edition of the annual Canadian Championship. The 2017 edition saw the introduction of a rule that required three pla ...

final to capture the title for the second consecutive season, edging Montreal 3–2 on aggregate. On September 30, 2017, Toronto FC captured the

with a 4–2 home win over New York Red Bulls, to clinch top of the league with the most points that season. On November 27, 2017, Vanney won the MLS Coach of the Year award. On December 9, 2017, Vanney led Toronto FC to MLS Cup victory in a 2–0 victory against Seattle. Greg Vanney was also named CONCACAF Coach of the Year. Following an early round play-off elimination, Vanney resigned as coach of Toronto FC on December 1, 2020.

LA Galaxy

In January 2021, Vanney was named as head coach of the

, his former club, where he played for seven seasons. After narrowly missing the playoffs in 2021, Vanney's Galaxy finished fourth in the Western Conference (ninth overall) in the 2022 season, the highest positions for the club since 2016. LA beat Nashville 1–0 in the first round, but fell to rivals

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club, commonly referred to as LAFC, is an American professional Association football team based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The club ...

3–2 in the conference semifinals.

Personal life

Vanney is the uncle of LA Galaxy defender Eriq Zavaleta.

Broadcasting

In 2009, Greg Vanney provided color commentary with play-by-play announcer Kevin Calabro for

games on FSN Northwest and KONG-TV and radio.

Other

Vanney participates on the

U.S. Soccer The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is a ...

Professional Referee Committee as well as being a representative on the U.S. Soccer Athlete's Council.

Coaching statistics

Honors

Player

International

;United States * CONCACAF Gold Cup:

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Club

;Los Angeles Galaxy *

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

CONCACAF Champions' Cup The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

* Western Conference (playoffs) (3): 1996, 1999, 2001 ;D.C. United *

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Individual

* MLS Best XI: 2000, 2001

Coach

Toronto FC

* MLS Cup:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

* Eastern Conference (Playoffs):

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

* Trillium Cup: 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019

Individual

* MLS Coach of the Year: 2017 * CONCACAF Coach of the Year:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vanney, Greg 1974 births 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players American expatriate sportspeople in France American expatriate soccer players American soccer coaches American soccer players Association football defenders Chivas USA non-playing staff Colorado Rapids players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players D.C. United players Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate soccer managers in Canada FC Dallas players FIU Panthers men's soccer players LA Galaxy draft picks LA Galaxy non-playing staff LA Galaxy players Ligue 1 players Living people Major League Soccer broadcasters Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars People from South Boston, Virginia Real Salt Lake non-playing staff Soccer players from Virginia Soccer players from Arizona Sacramento Scorpions players SC Bastia players Sportspeople from Tempe, Arizona Toronto FC coaches UCLA Bruins men's soccer players United States men's international soccer players USISL Select League players