Alexander Straus to become Angel City head coach at end of May
Bayern Munich's Alexander Straus will become the next head coach of the National Women's Soccer League side (NWSL) Angel City, sources with knowledge of the deal have told The Athletic.
Straus' Bayern exit was confirmed by the German team on Thursday morning, with the Norwegian to remain in charge until the end of May. A Bayern statement said the decision to part ways 11 months into the two-year extension Straus signed last year was at his request 'to pursue a new challenge.' Bayern players were told on Wednesday and the squad was moved by his departure.
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Angel City fired previous head coach Becki Tweed in December and subsequently conducted an extensive search for her replacement. Sam Laity has been serving as interim head coach since Tweed's departure.
The club's sporting director Mark Parsons said on The Athletic's Full Time with Meg Linehan podcast in February that the search had been narrowed down to four candidates in what had been a 'very detailed and thorough process.'
Angel City declined to comment when approached.
Straus was hired as Bayern head coach in 2022 and led the team to back-to-back Frauen-Bundesliga titles in 2022-23 and 23-24.
Before joining Bayern, the 49-year-old coached SK Brann in the top flight of his native Norway, winning the league twice.
Bayern are currently on course to win a third straight league title and are eight points clear of second-placed Wolfsburg. They have three league games remaining this season and can win the title if they beat Freiburg at home on Sunday.
Angel City have enjoyed an undefeated start to the 2025 NWSL season and are fourth in the standings after two wins and two draws. The club played its inaugural season in 2022 and made the playoffs the following year, before finishing 12th and missing the postseason in 2024, which saw Tweed leave her role.
Parsons has overseen the coaching hiring process since he joined Angel City in December as the club's sporting director following the departure of general manager Angela Hucles. Hucles parted ways with the club in December, two months after the NWSL sanctioned the organization for salary cap violations earlier last season. That included a $200,000 fine and a three-point deduction from its 2024 standings for violations of league rules in the 2023 season that resulted in Angel City exceeding the salary cap in 2024.
Hucles, along with club president Julie Uhrman, were suspended from all player transaction duties through the end of 2024.
(for DFB)
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