To truly understand how far the Galaxy have come in reaching the MLS Cup final on Saturday, you first must know where they started.
The Galaxy headed into last season having lost more games than they’d won since 2017. They’d made the playoffs twice in six seasons and had gone a team-record nine years without playing in the league championship game.
Once the model franchise in MLS, the Galaxy had become a dysfunctional mess. And it didn’t look like things would be getting better any time soon.
So when the Galaxy announced that Chris Klein, who presided over that free fall as the team’s president for a decade, had been given a contract extension, Andrew Alesana had seen enough. The team already had his money — he’d recently renewed the season ticket he had had since 2007 — but it would no longer have his support.
So just before the start of the 2023 season Alesana, president of the LA Riot Squad, joined with three of the team’s other main supporters groups to organize a boycott, promising to stay away from games until changes in the front office were made.
And guess what? It worked.
Read more: Commentary: What’s wrong with the Galaxy? Fan base growing impatient with front office
Will Kuntz, who would become the architect of the team’s turnaround, was hired three months later, Klein was sacked a month after that and after rebuilding the front office, the Galaxy quickly rebuilt their roster. The result was one of the most dramatic turnarounds in MLS history.
After winning just eight games in 2023, the Galaxy matched a modern-era record with 19 victories this season. After finishing in the penultimate spot in the Western Conference standing last season, the Galaxy tied for the top spot this season, becoming the first team since 2011 to go from second to last in the conference to the MLS Cup in one season.
And it all started when the fans went on strike.
“It’s crazy where we’ve come from in a year,” Alesana said. “I definitely take some pride in the team being as successful as they are.”
So does Mark Villa, a season-ticket holder since the first game in Carson in 2004.
“My kids grew up in this stadium,” he said. “The last eight seasons have been difficult to slog through as a fan. But seeing this revival really does start to make up for it.”
Villa said…