Galaxy President Doug Hamilton, also the MLS team’s GM, Dies at 43 During Flight to L.A.
from the LA Times
Doug Hamilton, president and general manager of the Galaxy, died Thursday evening while on a flight back to Los Angeles from San Jose, Costa Rica, where the team had played a CONCACAF Champions Cup game Wednesday night. He was 43.
The preliminary cause of death was listed as an apparent heart attack. Hamilton had slumped over in his seat only four minutes into the flight.
According to Galaxy Coach Steve Sampson, a team doctor who was aboard the LACSA aircraft tried for 45 minutes to resuscitate him, after which the plane’s captain decided to return to the San Jose airport.
Hamilton had become one of Major League Soccer’s brightest and most successful executives during his seven years in the league. He guided the Galaxy to championship seasons in 2002 and 2005, when the team also won the U.S. Open Cup.
He twice was named the league’s executive of the year, and under him the Galaxy became the first team to show a profit in the 10-year history of MLS.
“His passion was the Galaxy,” Sampson said in telephone interview from Costa Rica. “In retrospect, it’s fitting that we won a championship for him this past year because he was so passionate about this team and loved every single player and the organization.
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