Frank Walter Yallop (born 4 April 1964) is a British-Canadian professional soccer coach and former player.
He played 13 years in England for Ipswich Town, including the club's first three seasons in the Premier League. He also played in Major League Soccer (MLS) for the Tampa Bay Mutiny, and earned 52 caps for the Canada men's national soccer team.
He spent a further 13 years as coach in MLS for San Jose Earthquakes, LA Galaxy, and Chicago Fire, as well as three years coaching the Canadian men's national team. He has most recently been a coach and sporting director in the USL Championship, working with Phoenix Rising, Fresno FC, Las Vegas Lights, and Monterey Bay FC.
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 aged 14.
Club career
Ipswich Town (1983β1996)
In 1983, aged 19, Yallop signed a professional contract with Ipswich Town. He was part of the Ipswich squad that was relegated from the First Division in 1986 and of the squad that won the 1991β92 Second Division title promotion six years later to the inaugural season of the newly formed
Premier League, where Ipswich stayed for three years before being relegated once again to the second tier. In the later years of his Ipswich career, he played alongside fellow Canadian
Craig Forrest. In the season following the relegation, Yallop was loaned out to third-tier side Blackpool F.C. in November 1995, where he featured for the team in a few Second Division matches.
He departed the club following the conclusion of the 1995β96 season.
Two of his eight goals for the Town came in the span of three days in February 1993. The first came against Tottenham Hotspur with Yallop breaking a four-year scoring drought in a 2β0 victory. The second goal helped to push Ipswich to beat Premier League title favourites Manchester United 2β1 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.
At the end of his time at Ipswich, Yallop amassed 385 appearances in all competitions, which puts him just outside the top ten in appearances for the club all time. Yallop was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame in 2023, a recognition of his nearly 15 years spent with the club between academy and professional play.
Tampa Bay Mutiny (1996β1998)
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.
Week 23 of the season saw Frank Yallop win his first and only MLS Player of the Week award. This award was also the first for any Tampa Bay player.
Tampa Bay would finish the inaugural MLS season with the best record, for which they'd retroactively be awarded the Supporter's Shield. However, in the playoffs Tampa would fall just short of reaching the first ever MLS Cup, losing in the Eastern Conference finals to eventual champions D.C. United.
Yallop was given his only MLS All-Star honor with an appearance in the 1997 game, representing Tampa Bay on the Eastern Conference team.
After three seasons with the Mutiny, in which he served as captain and started nearly every game, Yallop retired from professional soccer. He was released from the Mutiny roster due to MLS shrinking their foreign player limit from 5 to 4 players per team.
During the 1999 season the team lost Jan Eriksson and R.T. Moore to injury and retirement respectively. The Mutiny petitioned the league to sign Yallop, who was still participating in player drills and could resume his career, but the league denied the request and Yallop remained retired.
International career
Yallop made five appearances for England's youth team in 1981β82 before switching allegiance to Canada.
[ England Youth Appearances]
He had initially been ineligible to feature for Canada and thus missed out on their first World Cup participation in 1986. After FIFA's rules changed regarding national team player eligibility, Yallop was finally able to make his official debut and start for Canada at 26 years of age on 13 May 1990, against Mexico in the 1990 North American Championship, helping Canada win the tournament.
Over his Canada career he earned 52 caps, serving as captain multiple times, and scoring no goals at the international level.[ Record at FIFA Tournaments β FIFA] His final international was on 16 November 1997 away to Costa Rica in Canada's final 1998 World Cup qualification match.
On 29 April 2005, Yallop was selected for induction into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame for his playing career.
Coaching career
Early coaching career
After retiring following his 1998 season with the Tampa Bay Mutiny, Yallop was offered the opportunity to become an assistant coach for the club starting with the 1999 MLS season. In the interim period before the pre-season would begin, Yallop began his coaching career in 1998 as an assistant-coach under
Lothar Osiander with the U.S. Project-40 team, joining the team on a 5-game tour of England.
Osiander joked that he brought Yallop on board because "I needed someone who knew how to drive on the other side of the road."
Following the tour, he began his duties as an assistant coach for the Tampa Bay Mutiny. In 2000, he became chief assistant coach for D.C. United under
Thomas Rongen.
In December 2000, it had been reported that Yallop was considered as an early candidate to coach for his former team Tampa Bay Mutiny, but he did not make the final group of candidates.
San Jose Earthquakes (2001β2003)
In 2001, Yallop was named head coach for the San Jose Earthquakes, just three days before the MLS SuperDraft. He replaced Lothar Osiander, who he had briefly coached under just few years prior with Project-40. Yallop was the first former MLS player to become an MLS head coach after retiring.
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.
Kinnear, a former teammate of Yallop's at Tampa Bay Mutiny, initially thought he was being recruited as a player, but Yallop asked him to join the club as an assistant coach. Kinnear would end his playing career to join Yallop's coaching staff.
In his first year as head coach, Yallop proceeded to lead the San Jose Earthquakes to the playoffs for their second time in franchise history, the first time since the club's and league's inaugural season in 1996. The 2001 playoff run culminated with the club's first
MLS Cup appearance, which ended with a win over California ClΓ‘sico rivals
LA Galaxy. At the season's conclusion, Yallop was named 2001 MLS Coach of the Year.
The following year the Quakes would improve their regular season performance and finish in second place overall. They set or tied records for an MLS all-time best home record (12β1β1), a then MLS record 12-game winning streak at home, and went on a 15-game home unbeaten streak that tied their previous club best from 1999 to 2000.
In 2003, the Earthquakes yet again improved upon their regular season form and finished as the best team in the West, and just two points shy of winning the Supporters Shield as the best regular season team. Yallop would lead the team to their second MLS title through these playoffs, their second title in the span of three seasons.
Canada (2004β2006)
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.
Yallop oversaw Canada's appearances at the 2003 and 2005 editions of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, both of which featured group stage exits, as well as their qualification campaign for the 2006 FIFA World Cup which ended in the third round of CONCACAF qualifying out of four total rounds. 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.
He finished with an 8-9-3 record as Canada's head coach.
Yallop stated in a 2021 interview that his "one regret" was leaving the Earthquakes to coach Canada, "I think I maybe jumped into Canada a little bit too soon and I wasnβt ready for it anyway."
Los Angeles Galaxy (2006β2007)
Yallop took the helm for the Galaxy midway through the 2006 MLS season, eventually guiding the team to finish just outside the playoffs, missing qualifications by three points. The Galaxy recruited English star
David Beckham ahead of the 2007 MLS season, though he would not transfer to the club until July and did not make his first appearance until August due to lingering injuries.
The Galaxy ultimately failed to qualify for the playoffs once again in 2007.
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."
Despite not making the MLS playoffs in either season, Yallop led the Galaxy to two tournament finals, the 2006 U.S. Open Cup and the 2007 North American SuperLiga, which the Galaxy lost to the Chicago Fire and Pachuca respectively.
Return to San Jose Earthquakes (2008β2013)
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,
[ SI.com β Soccer β Jonah Freedman: Earthquakes steal Yallop back from Galaxy β Monday 5 November 2007 10:14AM][ The Official Site of Earthquakes Soccer, LLC β News ] with
Netherlands Ruud Gullit taking his place.
The Galaxy received the Earthquakes' third-round pick in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft as compensation for Yallop's departure.
Ahead of the 2006 MLS season, the Earthquakes were relocated to Texas to become the Houston Dynamo. Soon after the move, plans were established to revive the San Jose Earthquakes franchise, this time as an expansion team who would need to build their roster from scratch. Two weeks after it was announced Yallop would be taking over as Earthquakes head coach, the team participated in the 2007 MLS expansion draft to build out the team's roster, most notably selecting Jason Hernandez who would appear in 165 regular season matches with the club from 2008β2014.
The following season would see the club barely best their 2008 finish, as the Earthquakes ended second from last in the 2009 MLS season. The newly reborn club would see an upswing in their third season since their return.
Yallop led the new-era Earthquakes for five and a half seasons before mutually parting ways with the club on 7 June 2013.
Chicago Fire (2013β2015)
In October 2013, Yallop was named Chicago Fire's new head coach and director of soccer.
Chicago would finish second to last in the Eastern Conference in his first season in charge. Ahead of the second season, Yallop notably kept his connections to Tottenham Hotspur from his stint with the San Jose Earthquakes, bringing in
Grant Ward on loan for the 2014 season.
The 2014 season saw the team perform even worse, and the poor form would see Yallop fired on 20 September 2015, with five matches left in the season. Chicago would finish the season worst in the East and the worst record in MLS overall. He compiled a 13β26β24 record with the Fire in what would be his last MLS coaching job to date.
Arizona United SC and Phoenix Rising FC (2016β2017)
Yallop was signed to a three-year contract as head coach and president of soccer operations of Arizona United SC on 23 December 2015. This was his first time managing a club in the USL, a professional league then at the third division in the United States soccer league system.
The team was renamed Phoenix Rising FC on 28 November 2016.
After only four league matches played in the 2017 season, Yallop would resign from his positions on 24 April to rejoin his family in Northern California. Yallop would stay on to consult in the club's search for a replacement head coach.
Frank's assistant
Rick Schantz took over as interim coach before the eventual hiring of
Patrice Carteron.
Phoenix would finish the season in 5th place, good for their first ever playoff appearance.
Fresno FC (2018β2019)
Yallop was announced on 26 July 2017 as General Manager of the newly established
Fresno FC, an expansion team for the 2018 USL season.
The team finished their inaugural season in 12th place out of 17 in the Western Conference, four places outside of a playoff spot.
The next season would see Fresno vastly improve in quality on the field, finishing in 3rd place out of 18 teams in the West, good for their first ever playoff appearance.
Fresno's playoff run ended as soon as it began, losing in an upset at home against expansion side El Paso Locomotive who had finished in 6th place.
Fresno FC would fold following the end of the 2019 USL Championship season, citing an inability to find a suitable location for the club to play at long term.
Las Vegas Lights FC (2020)
On 29 June 2020, Yallop returned to coaching for the first time since 2017 when he was hired in a caretaker role to replace
Eric Wynalda as head coach of Las Vegas Lights FC, a month before the 2020 USL Championship season was set to resume. Yallop had made it official at the time of his hire that he would not pursue the head coaching role after the end of the season.
Wynalda had coached Las Vegas for a single match of the 2020 USL season before a pause was brought on due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Las Vegas would finish the season fifth place out of five teams in their regional group, and fifteenth of eighteen teams in the Western Conference.
Monterey Bay FC (2021β2024)
On February 1, 2021, it was announced that Monterey Bay FC would be joining the USL Championship as an expansion side. This club was primarily owned by Ray Beshoff, and the result of Fresno FC folding two years prior. Yallop was initially announced as sporting director, a similar role to what he had held previously with Fresno.
Yallop would be announced in April as taking on the additional role of head coach for Monterey Bay FC in addition to acting as sporting director. Former Earthquakes captain
Ramiro Corrales would serve as Yallop's sole assistant coach. Corrales played under Yallop during both of the coach's stints with the San Jose Earthquakes.
Monterey Bay FC began their first
USL Championship season in March 2022. The club achieved their first professional win on 29 March, in their third match of the 2022 USL Championship season.
Yallop and assistant coach Ramiro Corrales were both released from their positions on July 31, 2024.
Coaching record
|
|
|
| San Jose Earthquakes | 3 February 2001 | 1 January 2004[
] |
| Canada | 1 January 2004 | 7 June 2006[
] |
| Los Angeles Galaxy | 7 June 2006 | 5 November 2007 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 5 November 2007 | 8 June 2013[
] |
| Chicago Fire | 31 October 2013 | 20 September 2015[
] |
Arizona United SC /
Phoenix Rising FC | 23 December 2015 | 24 April 2017 |
|
Honours
Player
Ipswich Town
-
Football League Second Division: 1992
Tampa Bay Mutiny
-
MLS Supporters' Shield: 1996
Canada
-
North American Nations Cup: 1990
Individual
-
Ipswich Town Player of the Year: 1987β88
-
MLS All-Star: 1997
-
2004 MLS Celebration Game: World Legends roster
-
Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame: Inducted 2005
-
Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame Best XI in 50 Years: 1963-2012
-
Ipswich Town Hall of Fame: Inducted 2023
Coach
San Jose Earthquakes
-
MLS Cup: 2001, 2003
-
MLS Supporters' Shield: 2012
Individual
-
MLS Coach of the Year: 2001, 2012
-
San Jose Earthquakes Hall of Fame: Inducted 2022
External links
-
/ Canada Soccer Hall of Fame
