Frank Yallop


Frank Walter Yallop is a British-Canadian former professional soccer player and current head coach of Las Vegas Lights FC in the USL Championship.
He played 13 years in England for Ipswich, including the club's first three seasons in the Premier League. He also played in Major League Soccer for the Tampa Bay Mutiny, and earned 52 caps for the Canada men's national soccer team.
He spent a further 13 years as a manager in MLS for San Jose Earthquakes, LA Galaxy, and Chicago Fire, as well as 3 years coaching the Canadian men's national team.

Early life

Yallop was born in Watford and spent his early childhood there before his father, a meat cutter by trade, joined a brother in Canada in 1974 bringing his wife and three children to Vancouver. Yallop continued playing in British Columbia where he caught the eye of an Ipswich Town scout who invited Yallop to try out for Ipswich at age 14.

Club career

Ipswich Town (1983–1996)

In 1983, at age 19, Yallop signed a professional contract with Ipswich Town, for whom he would play 385 games in all competitions, scoring 8 goals. He was part of the Ipswich squad that was relegated from the First Division in 1986, and of the squad that won promotion six years later to the new FA Premier League, where Ipswich stayed for three years before being relegated once again. Yallop remained at the club for a further season after this.
In the later years of his Ipswich career, he played alongside fellow Canadian Craig Forrest.
One of his eight goals for the Town came in February 1993 as they beat Premier League title favourites Manchester United 2–1 at Portman Road, a result which saw Ipswich occupy fourth place in the league and spark hopes of a late run to the title, but instead a slump in form followed and Ipswich finished 16th.

Tampa Bay Mutiny (1996–1998)

After a lengthy career in England, Yallop returned to North America in 1996, when he signed with Major League Soccer and was drafted 57th overall by the Tampa Bay Mutiny in the MLS Inaugural Player Draft. After three seasons with the Mutiny, in which he started practically every game, Yallop retired from professional soccer at the end of the 1998 season.

International career

Missing out on Canada's only World Cup participation in 1986, Yallop only made his debut for Canada at 26 years of age in a May 1990 North American Championship match against the United States. Since this game strangely was not official his real debut came a few days later in the same tournament against Mexico. He earned 52 caps, scoring no goals. He has represented Canada in 27 FIFA World Cup qualification matches. His final international was a November 1997 World Cup qualification match against Costa Rica.

Coaching career

Early coaching career

Yallop began his coaching career in 1998 with the US Project-40 team, taking the team on a 5-game tour of England. Following the tour, he became assistant coach for the Tampa Bay Mutiny. In 2000, he became chief assistant coach for D.C. United under Thomas Rongen.

San Jose Earthquakes (2001–2003)

In 2001, Yallop was named head coach for the San Jose Earthquakes, just two days before the MLS SuperDraft. During the pre-season, Yallop acquired Jeff Agoos, Landon Donovan, Dwayne DeRosario, Manny Lagos, Ramiro Corrales and Ronnie Ekelund, as well as assistant coach Dominic Kinnear. In his first year, Yallop proceeded to lead the San Jose Earthquakes to their first MLS Cup. Yallop was named the 2001 MLS Coach of the Year.
In 2003, the Earthquakes under Yallop won their second MLS title.

Canada (2004–2006)

On 16 December 2003 it was announced that Yallop would become head coach of the Canadian National Team starting on 1 January of the following year. In 2005, he was inducted to the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame.

Los Angeles Galaxy (2006–2007)

On 7 June 2006, Yallop resigned as coach of the Canadian men's national soccer team, as he was announced as the new head coach of Los Angeles Galaxy. Yallop resigned in November 2007.
The Galaxy, which signed famed English star David Beckham under Yallop, failed to qualify for the play-offs in 2007, although Yallop has been defended for his part in that, with forward Alan Gordon, who played on the 2007 Galaxy team, stating "it had nothing to do with Frank. We had 11 guys come in and out of there in a couple months. We had no team chemistry. We had a bunch of individuals who were trying to hang on and make the best of it." On 4 November 2007 it was revealed that Yallop was being bought out of his contract with the Galaxy to become the head coach of the San Jose Earthquakes once again for the 2008 season, with Dutchman Ruud Gullit taking his place.

Return to San Jose Earthquakes (2008–2013)

Yallop led the new-era Earthquakes for five-and-a-half seasons before parting ways with the club on 7 June 2013. He compiled a 62–6–51 record and led the club to two postseason appearances and the 2012 Supporters' Shield. His combined 126 wins in two stints at the club is the most in team history as of 2015.

Chicago Fire (2013–2015)

In October 2013, Yallop was named Chicago Fire's new head coach and director of soccer.
After nearly two poor seasons with results at or near the bottom of the conference table, Yallop was fired on 20 September 2015. He compiled a 13–26–24 with the Fire.

Arizona United SC / Phoenix Rising FC (2016–2017)

Yallop was signed to a three-year contract as Head Coach and President of Soccer Operations of Arizona United SC on 23 December 2015. The team was renamed Phoenix Rising FC on 28 November 2016.

Fresno FC (2018–2019)

Yallop was announced on 26 July 2017 as General Manager of new Fresno FC expansion team.

Las Vegas Lights FC (2020–)

On June 29, 2020, Yallop was hired to replace Eric Wynalda as head coach of Las Vegas Lights FC.

Coaching record

Honours

Player

Ipswich Town
Tampa Bay Mutiny
Individual
Individual