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* [[MLS All-Star Game|MLS All-Star]]: [[1997 MLS All-Star Game|1997]],<ref>[https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/all-star-game-flashback-1997-valderrama-named-mvp-again All-Star Game flashback, 1997] at MLSsoccer.com</ref> [[1998 MLS All-Star Game|1998]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/1998-mls-all-star-game-373141|title=1998 MLS All-Star Game|work=MLSsoccer.com|date=August 2, 1998| access-date= July 27, 2023}}</ref> [[1999 Major League Soccer All-Star Game|1999]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 17, 1999 |title=1999 MLS All-Star Game |url=https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/1999-mls-all-star-game-373142 |work=MLSsoccer.com |access-date=July 27, 2023}}</ref> [[2000 MLS All-Star Game|2000]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 29, 2000 |title=2000 MLS All-Star Game |url=https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/2000-mls-all-star-game-373143 |work=MLSsoccer.com |access-date=July 28, 2023}}</ref>
* [[MLS All-Star Game|MLS All-Star]]: [[1997 MLS All-Star Game|1997]],<ref>[https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/all-star-game-flashback-1997-valderrama-named-mvp-again All-Star Game flashback, 1997] at MLSsoccer.com</ref> [[1998 MLS All-Star Game|1998]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/1998-mls-all-star-game-373141|title=1998 MLS All-Star Game|work=MLSsoccer.com|date=August 2, 1998| access-date= July 27, 2023}}</ref> [[1999 Major League Soccer All-Star Game|1999]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 17, 1999 |title=1999 MLS All-Star Game |url=https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/1999-mls-all-star-game-373142 |work=MLSsoccer.com |access-date=July 27, 2023}}</ref> [[2000 MLS All-Star Game|2000]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 29, 2000 |title=2000 MLS All-Star Game |url=https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/2000-mls-all-star-game-373143 |work=MLSsoccer.com |access-date=July 28, 2023}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==

Revision as of 15:49, 9 August 2023

John Harkes
Harkes coaching FC Cincinnati in 2016
Personal information
Full name John Andrew Harkes[1]
Date of birth (1967-03-08) March 8, 1967 (age 57)
Place of birth Kearny, New Jersey, United States
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Greenville Triumph SC (head coach)
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1985–1987 Virginia Cavaliers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989 Albany Capitals 20 (0)
1990–1993 Sheffield Wednesday 82 (7)
1993–1995 Derby County 67 (5)
1995–1996 → West Ham United (loan) 12 (0)
1996–1998 D.C. United 83 (14)
1999 → Nottingham Forest (loan) 3 (0)
1999–2001 New England Revolution 55 (2)
2001–2002 Columbus Crew 29 (0)
Total 351 (28)
International career
1987–2000 United States 90 (8)
Managerial career
2006–2007 New York Red Bulls (assistant)
2015–2017 FC Cincinnati
2018– Greenville Triumph
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John Andrew Harkes (born March 8, 1967) is an American soccer coach and former professional player who is the head coach of Greenville Triumph SC.[2]

A member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Harkes was the first American ever to play in the English Premier League with Sheffield Wednesday, the second American to score at Wembley Stadium, and the first American soccer player to appear in & win the final of a major English tournament, in the 1991 Football League Cup Final with Sheffield Wednesday over Manchester United. He also scored England’s “ Goal of the Year” against Derby County and most capped player in the world at that time -GK Peter Shilton. After moving to Major League Soccer in 1996, he won two MLS Cup titles with D.C. United, an Open Cup title, Concacaf Cup, and the InterAmerican Championship. He won a total of 5 trophies at DC United. He also won the very first club trophy at Columbus Crew with the US Open Cup, which was named after their owner Lamar Hunt! John also represented the USA in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea.

A mainstay in the U.S. national team midfield throughout 13 years from 1987- 2000 Harkes and his team qualified for the first time in 40 years for the Italia 90 World Cup! He also represented the US as a top player in the US hosted World Cup 1994. Harkes, Ramos and Meola were all on these two teams and friends from Kearny , NJ (SOCCERTOWN, USA) His national team career finished with 90 caps and 8 goals.

Following his retirement, he served as a color commentator for ESPN's coverage of MLS and U.S. international matches, including the 2002, 2006, & 2010 FIFA World Cups with Rob Stone, JP Dellacamera, Ian Darke and Martin Tyler. He was also the color commentator for DC United for years.

Amateur career

High school

Harkes grew up in the soccer hotbed of Kearny, New Jersey,[3] and played youth and high school soccer with future national team teammates Tony Meola and Tab Ramos.[4]

Harkes graduated from Kearny High School in 1985.[5] During his high school career, Harkes played in four New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association championship matches and led his team to the 1984 Group 4 State Championship and a 24–0 record. He was the 1984 Parade High School Player of the Year.

In 1999, he was named by The Star-Ledger as one of the top ten New Jersey high school soccer players of the 1980s.[6]

Professional career

England: 1990–1996

Harkes moved to Sheffield Wednesday of the English Football League in 1990. In a game that season against Derby County, his 35-yard blast glided into the net past former England World Cup goalkeeper Peter Shilton and earned him English football's "Goal of the Season" award. That season, Harkes became the third American (after Bill Regan for Romford F.C. in the 1948–49 FA Amateur Cup final and Mike Masters for Colchester United in the 1991-92 FA Trophy final) to play at Wembley Stadium when Sheffield Wednesday reached the 1991 League Cup final. There, the Second Division (now Football League Championship) Wednesday upset the First Division (now Premier League) side Manchester United 1–0. Also that year, Wednesday won promotion to the First Division.

In 1993, Harkes became the only American to score in a League Cup Final, in a 2–1 loss to Arsenal. His goal was the second by an American at Wembley Stadium following Mike Masters' goal for Colchester United in the F.A. Trophy Final the year before. He appeared in the FA Cup Final one month after that League Cup disappointment, with Sheffield Wednesday again losing to Arsenal (2–1 in the replay, after a 1–1 draw in the first game). Harkes played one more season in England after moving to Derby County in the summer of 1993. In 1995, Major League Soccer (MLS) began preparing for its first season, which it first thought would come in the fall of 1995. As part of that process, MLS signed prominent U.S. players to league contracts. Harkes was one of the players who signed with MLS, only to discover the league would not begin play until 1996. Therefore, he, and MLS, negotiated a one-year loan to West Ham United.[7]

Major League Soccer: 1996–2003

Harkes playing for D.C. United in 1997

In 1996, Harkes, along with his U.S. national teammates based overseas, returned to the U.S. for the launch of Major League Soccer. MLS had signed numerous prominent U.S. players and eventually allocated them throughout the league's teams in order to create an initial equitable distribution of talent. MLS allocated Harkes to D.C. United, making him the team's first player ever. That first season, he led the club to a MLS Cup win and a U.S. Open Cup title. D.C. United successfully defended its MLS Cup title in 1997, with Harkes assisting on the match-winning goal in the cup final.

Despite the disappointment of being left off the 1998 World Cup squad, Harkes helped United capture the Supporters Shield for the best regular season record in the league, before losing in the MLS Cup Final to the Chicago Fire. He also helped United become the first MLS club to win the CONCACAF Champions' Cup and upset Brazil's Vasco Da Gama in the Interamerican Cup.[8]

At the end of the 1998 season, he traveled back to England for a two-week trial with Nottingham Forest. On January 28, 1999, the team accepted Harkes for a two-month loan period. He played only three games for Forest (including the infamous 8–1 defeat to Manchester United) before returning to the U.S. While he was in England, D.C. United traded him to the New England Revolution for the Revs first and second round 1999 MLS College Draft picks.[9] United traded Harkes in order to make room under the salary cap.

Harkes played three seasons in New England before being traded to the Columbus Crew in the mid-season of 2001. After an injury-plagued 2002 season, Harkes announced his retirement in 2003.

International career

Harkes playing in a World Cup qualifying match in 1997

John Harkes played in the 1990 and 1994 FIFA World Cups and was controversially cut from the team weeks before the 1998 tournament by national team coach Steve Sampson.

Harkes made his national team debut on March 23, 1987, against Canada. He was on the U.S. team at the 1987 Pan American Games.[10] He quickly established himself as a national team regular and was selected for the 1988 Olympics. That year the U.S. went 1–1–1 and failed to qualify for the second round. Harkes continued to play for the national team as it went through the qualification process for the upcoming World Cup. The team qualified for those games after an improbable 1–0 road victory over Trinidad and Tobago in the final qualification match.

In 1990, he was a member of a World Cup squad made up mostly of college and semi-professional players. The United States side was routed 1–5 by Czechoslovakia, but were respectable losing 0–1 to host nation and eventual semi-finalist Italy, and 1–2 to Austria. Despite losing all three matches, many players from the 1990 squad, including Harkes, Ramos, Meola, Marcelo Balboa and Eric Wynalda, formed the core of the U.S. national team for most of the decade and played an important role in the development of MLS.

U.S. fared better as the host nation in the 1994 World Cup, upsetting Colombia 2–1 in a group stage match to advance to the Round of 16. Harkes contributed to the Andrés Escobar own goal which arguably led to the Colombian defender's shooting death weeks later.[11] Harkes delivered a cross from the left aimed at Earnie Stewart, which Escobar attempted to clear, but instead sent the ball past his goalkeeper.

However, Harkes missed the Round of 16 match against Brazil after receiving his second yellow card of the group stage against Romania, earning a one-match suspension. Brazil won the match 1–0 and went on to win the World Cup.

In Copa América 1995, Harkes led the United States, a guest team at the tournament, to a 3–0 upset of defending champion Argentina and a semi-final finish. He was named co-Most Valuable Player of the tournament, along with Uruguayan Enzo Francescoli.

1998 World Cup controversy

In 1996, before the beginning of the qualifying for the 1998 World Cup, head coach Steve Sampson named Harkes "Captain For Life", which meant Harkes would be the captain of the national team as long as he wished and Sampson was the coach. He responded by leading the team in assists in qualifying and helped the United States qualify for a third straight World Cup finals appearance.

However, Sampson controversially left Harkes off the World Cup squad, citing "leadership issues", although the decision was never fully explained at the time.[12] The bitterness resulting from the omission and the irony of the "Captain for Life" title would serve as the inspiration for his autobiography, Captain for Life: And Other Temporary Assignments (ISBN 1-886947-49-X), co-written with Denise Kiernan and published in 1999. In the book, Harkes criticized Sampson for lacking "credibility to a group of guys who had hundreds and hundreds of caps among them" and "putting a huge amount of pressure on young, internationally inexperienced players", and concluded, "I can't think of one thing that Steve did right in the months leading up to the World Cup".[13] The 1998 team lost all three games in the group stage, finishing last overall.

In February 2010 Sampson and former teammate Eric Wynalda revealed that an alleged affair between Harkes and Wynalda's wife, Amy, had prompted Harkes' sudden dismissal.[12][14] Sampson confirmed Wynalda's claim in a 2016 podcast interview with Alexi Lalas.[15]

Harkes was called up to the national team again by his former college coach, Bruce Arena in 1999, and helped the United States win the bronze medal in the Confederations Cup that year. He ended his international career in 2000 with 90 appearances.

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 August 13, 1989 Los Angeles, California  South Korea 1–2 1–2 Friendly
2 February 24, 1990 Palo Alto, California  Soviet Union 1–0 1–3 Friendly
3 May 30, 1992 Washington, D.C.  Republic of Ireland 3–1 3–1 1992 U.S. Cup
4 May 6, 1992 Chicago, Illinois  Italy 1–1 1–1 1992 U.S. Cup
5 June 11, 1995 Boston, Massachusetts  Nigeria 1–1 3–2 1995 U.S. Cup
6 June 18, 1995 Washington, D.C.  Mexico 3–0 4–0 1995 U.S. Cup


Harkes coaches defender Harrison Delbridge during a 2016 FC Cincinnati match.

Personal life

Both of Harkes' parents are Scottish immigrants; his father Jim is originally from Dundee,[16][17] and was a youth team player at Dundee United.[18]

He has been married for 31 years, has 3 children- Ian, Lauren & Lily. They all Played D1 soccer in college. Ian Harkes, who won the Hermann Trophy in 2016, played for John's old team, D.C. United, Dundee United in Scotland, and for the New England Revolution, where John played from 1999-2001.[19][17][20]

Honors

Individual

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Harkes.
  1. ^ John Harkes at Olympedia Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ "John Harkes Named Club's First Head Coach". Greenville Triumph SC. August 27, 2018. Archived from the original on August 2, 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  3. ^ Bondy, Filip. "SOCCER; Harkes, Accent and All, Back for Tourney", The New York Times, June 6, 1993. Accessed March 28, 2011. "John Harkes, the pride of Kearny, N.J., rejoined the United States national soccer team this week to resuscitate his old mates in the U.S. Cup '93 opener today against Brazil in New Haven."
  4. ^ Soccer Ruminations Recall Soccertown USA, The University News (Saint Louis University), April 28, 2005
  5. ^ Yannis, Alex. "Cosmos Spirit Infuses 2 At Tournament Debut", The New York Times, June 2, 1989. Accessed December 17, 2007. "Harkes, who went to Kearny High School, has been the most industrious player for the Americans in their three World Cup qualifying games (1–1–1) thus far."
  6. ^ Jandoli, Ron. "The Century's Best – Boys Soccer: Top 10 Players of each decade", The Star-Ledger, November 7, 1999, backed up by the Internet Archive as of January 10, 2003, Accessed September 11, 2008
  7. ^ "John Harkes – USMNT". US Soccer Players.
  8. ^ Looking back: John Harkes Archived August 14, 2006, at the Wayback Machine mlsnet.com, September 28, 2005
  9. ^ "D.C. deals Harkes to New England". CBS Sportsline. Associated Press. February 2, 1999. Archived from the original on May 5, 1999. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
  10. ^ "USA - Details of International Matches 1980-1989". RSSSF. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  11. ^ What the world is waiting for planetworldcup.com
  12. ^ a b "Harkes dropped in '98 for allegations". ESPN. AP. February 3, 2010.
  13. ^ Langdon, Jerry (June 14, 1999). "Bitter Harkes closes with blistering shots at Sampson". Soccer Times. Gannett News Service. Archived from the original on March 29, 2006. Retrieved May 31, 2006.
  14. ^ Davis, Steve (February 3, 2010). "L'affair John Harkes: Details emerge on the once-U.S. captain's affair with Wynalda's wife". SB Nation.
  15. ^ "Ep. 6 – 5/15/16 – Ibrahimovic to MLS & USA/Mexico 2026, Guest: Steve Sampson". ART19, Inc. May 15, 2016. Archived from the original on September 1, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  16. ^ "MLS Insider: John Harkes traces soccer's roots in historic Kearny, New Jersey". www.mlssoccer.com. Major League Soccer. December 27, 2014. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  17. ^ a b Dundee United: Ian Harkes leaves grandad speechless by Tannadice 'homecoming', BBC Sport, January 15, 2019
  18. ^ "A grandson's phone call heralds glorious new chapter in Tannadice love story for this expat son of Dundee". The Herald. February 2, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  19. ^ Goff, Steven (January 6, 2017). "Ian Harkes wins Hermann Trophy as college soccer's best player". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  20. ^ Dell'Apa, Frank (July 5, 2023). "Revolution sign midfielder Ian Harkes". bostonglobe.com. The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  21. ^ All-Star Game flashback, 1997 at MLSsoccer.com
  22. ^ "1998 MLS All-Star Game". MLSsoccer.com. August 2, 1998. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  23. ^ "1999 MLS All-Star Game". MLSsoccer.com. July 17, 1999. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  24. ^ "2000 MLS All-Star Game". MLSsoccer.com. July 29, 2000. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
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