In April 1996, John Harkes stood at midfield before an inaugural soccer match at San Jose’s Spartan Stadium, the captain of a new team in a new nationwide league featuring U.S. World Cup players who could finally earn a proper paycheck at home.
Twenty years and three days later, Harkes was again part of something fresh in American soccer, pacing the sideline on a cold Saturday night in Cincinnati as coach of an expansion club making its home debut in the prosperous third flight.
D.C. United and MLS then, FC Cincinnati and USL now.
“I’ve told the players you have a unique opportunity to be part of something built from scratch and you can have an influence on what we can become,” Harkes said this week.