Bill Manning became president of Toronto FC in 2015. Under his leadership, the team won the MLS Cup in 2017 and was runner-up in 2016 and 2019.Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press
Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment lost its first executive under new boss Keith Pelley on Thursday, as the company announced Toronto FC and Toronto Argonauts president Bill Manning had departed the company by mutual agreement, effective immediately.
In a statement, Pelley, who took over as president and CEO of MLSE in April, acknowledged Manning’s service.
“On behalf of MLSE’s board of directors and the entire organization, we want to thank Bill for his many contributions in his nearly nine years with the company,” Pelley said. “Bill will always be an important part of the championship history for both clubs, but as we evaluate the path ahead, and measure against our ambition to consistently deliver contending teams, it was determined that a new direction was required. Bill is a very accomplished team executive, and a good man, and we wish him and his family the very best in the future.”
Michael (Pinball) Clemons, the general manager of the Argos, and Jason Hernandez, GM of Toronto FC, will report directly to Pelley until new club leadership is appointed.
Toronto FC is 7-3-13 this season and lost a semi-final match in the Canadian Championship Cup on Wednesday to Forge FC of the Canadian Premier League. TFC is currently ranked 51st in CONCACAF, while Forge is ranked 55th.
The Argos are 2-2 this season and played Thursday night in Montreal against the Alouettes.
Manning became president of Toronto FC in 2015. Under his leadership, the team won the MLS Cup in 2017 and was runner-up in 2016 and 2019, but it has failed to qualify for the league’s playoffs for the past three seasons. Last year, the team finished the season with a record-low 22 points.
He assumed the presidency of the Argos when MLSE bought the club in 2018. The team won the Grey Cup in 2022 but was bounced from the playoffs last year in the Eastern final despite a 16-2 regular-season record.
He had signed a five-year contract extension with MLSE in 2021, which was to run until the end of the 2025 MLS season.
The shakeup is the first significant executive-level change under Pelley, who has staked out a much more forceful role in the spotlight than his predecessor, Cynthia Devine, or Michael Friisdahl, who quietly oversaw MLSE from October, 2015, to 2021.
Friisdahl’s predecessor, Tim Leiweke, hired Brendan Shanahan as president of the Toronto Maple Leafs and signed Masai Ujiri as executive vice-president and general manager of the Toronto Raptors. Both men are still leading those teams despite little success since the Raptors won the NBA championship in 2019. The Leafs famously have won only one playoff series since Shanahan was appointed president in 2014.
Pelley made his first public appearance as the head of MLSE at the Leafs’ end-of-season news conference in May, when Shanahan and the team’s general manager, Brad Treliving, took questions about the team’s first-round playoff exit and the firing of coach Sheldon Keefe, declaring he would “not make this a habit” of participating in such events. Nevertheless, he appeared at the Leafs’ next news conference two weeks later announcing the hiring of coach Craig Berube.
He also appeared at a splashy press event this week where Ujiri announced the team had signed contract extensions with stars Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley.
MLSE did not respond to a request for an interview with either Pelley or Manning.