Landon Donovan to take over as interim head coach of San Diego Wave FC
San Diego Wave FC is set to announce Landon Donovan as the new Interim head coach of San Diego Wave FC.
Sources tell Sandiego.Futbol that former U.S. men’s national team star Landon Donovan will be named interim head coach of San Diego Wave FC Friday, August 16.
Paul Buckle will transition out of the position following his summer commitment to the club. Buckle took over after the club fired its first head coach Casey Stoney on June 24, amid a disappointing start to the 2024 season and a seven-match winless streak.
During Buckle’s five-match stint he implemented a 4-2-4 formation to be more conducive to an attacking style of play, but the Wave still struggled to score: resulting in one win, three losses and one draw.
Donovan was a decorated international star for the U.S. men’s national team as the all-time leader in assists and tied with Clint Dempsey for most goals scored. He also leads Major League Soccer in all-time assists and has the Most Valuable Player award named after him.
Donovan announced his retirement from soccer multiple times, but his professional playing career didn’t end until 2019 with the MASL’s San Diego Sockers.
In 2018 Donovan was part of unsuccessful efforts to build a soccer-specific stadium for an MLS team in Mission Valley where Snapdragon Stadium now stands.
He later joined an ownership group that brought a new USL Championship soccer team to San Diego called San Diego Loyal SC. Donovan was named the team’s first manager in November, 2019, prior to their start in 2020.
Donovan was a first-time manager whose tactics were mostly handled by assistant coach Nate Miller. His record across three seasons was 39W-30L-17D before he transitioned to a role in the front office as the Vice President of Soccer Operations for the 2023 season.
His most notable moment with the club came in 2020 when the Loyal forfeited their last two matches and walked off the field in protest of homophobic and racist remarks directed toward players on the team. First when a player on LA Galaxy II used a racist slur on the field, and second when a Phoenix Rising player directed a homophobic slur at an openly gay player Collin Martin. The two forfeits kept the Loyal out of the playoffs that season, but garnered them national attention for standing against racism and homophobia in sports.
Most recently Donovan worked in broadcasting as an analyst on Fox for the 2024 UEFA European Championship.
Donovan will join the team on the sidelines for their first match in the Concacaf W Champions Cup on August 20, against Santa Fe FC in Panama City, Panama.
The Wave will play their next home match on August 24, in the return to the NWSL regular season against their Southern California rivals, Angel City FC.
