Sam James Laity (born 3 July 1976) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

who is currently a senior assistant coach at

Angel City FC Angel City Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The formation of the team was announced on July 21, 2020; it beg ...

in the American

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

(NWSL). He was previously an assistant coach for fellow American teams

Houston Dash The Houston Dash are an American professional soccer team based in Houston, Texas, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Dash began play in the 2014 season. The team plays its home games at Shell Energy Stadium. His ...

and

Seattle Reign FC Seattle Reign FC is an American professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since June 2024, the Reign ar ...

, where he also served as interim coach for a period in 2021.

Early life

Laity attended university in

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, where he began coaching girls' school programs for the

Devon County Football Association The Devon County Football Association, also simply known as the ''Devon F.A.'', is the governing body of football in the county of Devon. The Devon F.A. was founded in 1888 in Plymouth. They run a number of league and cup competitions for teams ...

. After completing his studies, Laity moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to continue his work in the sport. He worked as a coach for Seattle-area youth clubs Dos FC, Westsound FC, and Pacific Premier, was director of the Pacific Northwest Soccer Club in

Tukwila, Washington Tukwila ( ) is a suburban city in King County, Washington, United States, located immediately to the south of Seattle. The population was 21,798 at the 2020 census. A large commercial center draws workers and consumers to the city daily; ind ...

, and worked as a regional staff instructor and coaching education and licensing coordinator for the

National Soccer Coaches Association of America The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of United States, American soccer Coach (sport), coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization i ...

Managerial career

Seattle Reign (assistant and interim), 2013–2022

Laity was an assistant coach for Seattle Reign FC, later renamed to Reign FC and

OL Reign Seattle Reign FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since J ...

, from its inaugural season in 2013 until 2022. During his tenure, he was an assistant to

Laura Harvey Laura Kate Harvey (born 15 May 1980) is an English football manager and former player who currently manages Seattle Reign FC of the American National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She holds USSF "A" and UEFA "A" coaching licenses. Harvey previo ...

Vlatko Andonovski Vlatko Andonovski (; born 14 September 1976) is a Macedonian-American association football manager and former player who is the head coach and sporting director of the Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League. He was the head c ...

, and Farid Benstiti, and served as interim coach for six matches after Benstiti's resignation during the

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

. He was also a coach in the Reign's academy system from its incorporation in 2016 to 2019.

Houston Dash, 2022–2023

On 21 December 2022, NWSL club

hired Laity as head coach. On 6 September 2023, the Dash fired Laity.

Angel City FC, 2025–

On January 22, 2025, NWSL club

announced along with their preseason roster, that they are hired Laity as interim head coach during their search for a new head coach after the departure of Becki Tweed. Laity is expected to remain in the role until June 1, 2025, when incoming head coach Alexander Straus begins their tenure, while Laity will remain on the coaching staff as a senior assistant coach once Straus arrives.

Managerial statistics

Personal life

Laity is a fan of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

and especially admires the

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art gallery, art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri, known for its encyclopedic collection of art from nearly every continent and culture, and especially for its extensive collection of A ...

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, and structures in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

References

External links

* 1976 births Living people Sportspeople from Plymouth, Devon Seattle Reign FC head coaches Houston Dash head coaches English expatriate football managers National Women's Soccer League head coaches Seattle Reign FC non-playing staff Houston Dash non-playing staff {{England-footy-manager-stub