_(cropped).jpg) Harkes coaching FC Cincinnati in 2016 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Andrew Harkes[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1967-03-08)March 8, 1967 (age 58) | ||
| Place of birth | Kearny, New Jersey, United States | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| 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[2] | 55 | (2) |
| 2001–2002 | Columbus Crew | 29 | (0) |
| Total | 351 | (28) | |
| International career | |||
| 1987–2000 | United States | 90 | (6) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2006–2007 | New York Red Bulls (assistant) | ||
| 2015–2017 | FC Cincinnati | ||
| 2018–2023 | Greenville Triumph | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
John Andrew Harkes (born March 8, 1967) is an Americansoccer coach and former professional player who last coachedGreenville Triumph SC.[3]
A member of theNational Soccer Hall of Fame,[4] Harkes was the first American to play in the EnglishPremier League withSheffield Wednesday, the second American to score atWembley, and the first American soccer player to appear in the final of a major English tournament, in the1991 Football League Cup Final with Sheffield Wednesday. After moving toMajor League Soccer in 1996, he won twoMLS Cup titles withD.C. United.
A mainstay in theU.S. national teammidfield for most of the 1990s, Harkes appeared in twoFIFA World Cup tournaments. He was named the team's "Captain for Life" by then-head coachSteve Sampson before having that title stripped ahead of the1998 World Cup. Harkes ended his national team career with 90caps and six goals.
Following his retirement, he served as acolor commentator forESPN's coverage of MLS and U.S. international matches, including the2010 FIFA World Cup.[5]
Harkes grew up in the soccer hotbed ofKearny, New Jersey,[6] and played youth and high school soccer with future national team teammatesTony Meola andTab Ramos.[7]
Harkes graduated fromKearny High School in 1985.[8] During his high school career, Harkes played in fourNew 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 byThe Star-Ledger as one of the top ten New Jersey high school soccer players of the 1980s.[9]
Harkes played for University of Virginia where he was named 1st team All-American in 1986 and 1987, and was the Hermann Award winner in 1987, as the best player in US colleges.
Harkes moved toSheffield Wednesday of the EnglishFootball 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 forRomford in the 1948–49FA Amateur Cup final andMike Masters forColchester United in the 1991-92 FA Trophy final) to play atWembley when Sheffield Wednesday reached the1991League Cup final. There, the Second Division (nowFootball League Championship) Wednesday upset the First Division (nowPremier League) sideManchester 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 toArsenal. His goal was the second by an American at Wembley Stadium followingMike Masters' goal for Colchester United in theF.A. Trophy Final the year before. He appeared in theFA 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 toDerby 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 toWest Ham United.[10]
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In 1996, Harkes, along with his U.S. national teammates based overseas, returned to the U.S. for the launch ofMajor 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. MLSallocated Harkes toD.C. United, making him the team's first player ever. That first season, he led the club to aMLS Cup win and aU.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 the1998 World Cup squad, Harkes helped United capture theSupporters Shield for the best regular season record in the league, before losing in the MLS Cup Final to theChicago Fire. He also helped United become the first MLS club to win theCONCACAF Champions' Cup and upsetBrazil'sVasco Da Gama in theInteramerican Cup.[11]
At the end of the 1998 season, he traveled back to England for a two-week trial withNottingham Forest. On January 28, 1999, the team accepted Harkes for a two-month loan period. He played only three games for Forest (including the infamous8–1 defeat to Manchester United) before returning to the U.S.[12]
On February 2, 1999 While Harkes was in England,D.C. United traded him to theNew England Revolution in exchange for New England’s first- and second-round picks in the2000 MLS SuperDraft and future considerations.[2][13] United traded Harkes in order to make room under thesalary cap.[citation needed] Some uncertainty surrounded the trade, as the Revolution expected Harkes to report by March 15, while Forest insisted the loan would keep Harkes in England until the end of the Premier League season.[14] Revolution General Manager Brian O'Donovan stated that if Harkes failed to join by mid-March, the deal would be off.[14]
Ultimately, on March 16, Harkes' loan spell ended, allowing him to officially join New England.[2] Harkes made his New England debut on May 15 vs. theColumbus Crew, coming on as a 75th minute substitute forEdwin Gorter. He made his first start for the Revolution on May 23 in a 1-0 loss to theLA Galaxy. He made his home debut on June 5 in a 2-0 loss to the Chicago Fire.[15] Additionally, Harkes captained the Revolution twice in the1999 New England Revolution season, on August 6 and October 9. He recorded 8 assists in 22 matches played during his inaugural Revolution campaign.[15] Harkes wore the captain's armband for much of the2000 New England Revolution season, helping the Revolution reach the MLS Playoffs for the first time since 1997. He scored his first goal for the club on June 3 in the Revolution's 2-0 win over theMiami Fusion.[15] Harkes was the only player to represent the Revolution in the2000 MLS All-Star Game.[15] Harkes would make only five appearances for the Revolution during the2001 New England Revolution season as on May 11, 2001, the Revolution dealt Harkes to theColumbus Crew in exchange forPato Aguilera and a conditional pick inthe2002 MLS SuperDraft.[2] After an injury-plagued 2002 season, Harkes announced his retirement in 2003.[10]
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John Harkes played in the1990 and1994 FIFA World CupHarkes made his national team debut on March 23, 1987, againstCanada. He was on the U.S. team at the1987 Pan American Games.[16] He quickly established himself as a national team regular and was selected for the1988 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 overTrinidad and Tobago in the final qualification match.
In 1990, he was a member of aWorld Cup squad made up mostly of college and semi-professional players. The United States side was routed 1–5 byCzechoslovakia, but were respectable losing 0–1 to host nation and eventual semi-finalistItaly, and 1–2 toAustria. Despite losing all three matches, many players from the 1990 squad, including Harkes, Ramos, Meola,Marcelo Balboa 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, upsettingColombia 2–1 in a group stage match to advance to the Round of 16. Harkes contributed to theAndrés Escobarown goal which arguably led to the Colombian defender's shooting death weeks later.[17] Harkes delivered a cross from the left aimed atEarnie Stewart, which Escobar attempted to clear, but instead sent the ball past his goalkeeper.
However, Harkes missed the Round of 16 match againstBrazil after receiving his secondyellow card of the group stage againstRomania, earning a one-match suspension. Brazil won the match 1–0 and went on to win the World Cup.
InCopa América 1995, Harkes led the United States, a guest team at the tournament, to a 3–0 upset of defending championArgentina and a semi-final finish. He was named co-Most Valuable Player of the tournament, along with UruguayanEnzo Francescoli.
In 1996, before the beginning of thequalifying for the1998 World Cup, head coachSteve 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.[18] 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 withDenise 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".[19] The 1998 team lost all three games in the group stage, finishing last overall.
In February 2010 Sampson and former teammateEric Wynalda revealed that an alleged affair between Harkes and Wynalda's wife, Amy, had prompted Harkes' sudden dismissal.[18][20] Sampson confirmed Wynalda's claim in a 2016 podcast interview withAlexi Lalas.[21]
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 theConfederations Cup that year. He ended his international career in 2000 with 90 appearances.
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In August 2015, the formation ofFC Cincinnati, a new franchise in the then-third-divisionUnited Soccer League, was announced, with Harkes as the team's first head coach.[22] InFC Cincinnati's first season under Harkes, the club finished third in the USL Eastern Conference with a 12–6–4 record. However, on February 17, 2017, FC Cincinnati announced the firing of Harkes ahead of the 2017 season.[23] From outside the club, the dismissal was seen as a surprise; reports later emerged of a 2016–17 offseason that was "unstructured and somewhat chaotic behind the scenes", according toThe Cincinnati Enquirer's Pat Brennan.[24]
In August 2018, Harkes was named as the first head coach ofGreenville Triumph, a new club set to joinUSL League One in 2019. Harkes was signed to a three-year contract to lead the entire technical side of the organization.[24] In the team's first season, they finished third in the standings and were the runner-up in the playoffs. In the 2020 season, the Triumph finished first in the standings and won the playoffs, and Harkes was named the USL League One Coach of the Year. On January 26, 2021, the Triumph extended Harkes's contract through the 2023 season.[25] The Triumph finished second in the standings in both the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
In 2010,Eric Wynalda stated that former U.S. national team head coach Steve Sampson had dropped Harkes from the 1998 World Cup team two months prior to the tournament because Harkes had been having relations with teammate Wynalda's wife, Amy, in the couple's house, and near the playpen of their young child. Sampson became aware of the scandal and brewing feud between Wynalda and Harkes, and chose to drop Harkes to restore dressing room accord. Despite intense criticism from the media and subsequent failure in the World Cup, Sampson remained silent regarding the true reason for Harkes' dismissal from the team out of respect for the privacy of those involved. Harkes himself published an autobiography in 1999 panning Sampson's tenure as coach, but made no mention of the affair.[26][27][28]
Both of Harkes' parents areScottish immigrants; his father Jim is originally fromDundee,[29][30] and was a youth team player atDundee United.[31]
He is the father of Lauren Harkes, who played collegiately at Clemson University, andIan Harkes, who won theHermann 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 to 2001.[32][30][33]
| Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 13, 1989 | Los Angeles, California |  South Korea | 1–2 | 1–2 | Friendly |
| February 24, 1990 | Palo Alto, California |  Soviet Union | 1–0 | 1–3 | Friendly |
| May 30, 1992 | Washington, D.C. |  Republic of Ireland | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1992 U.S. Cup |
| May 6, 1992 | Chicago, Illinois |  Italy | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1992 U.S. Cup |
| June 11, 1995 | Boston, Massachusetts |  Nigeria | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1995 U.S. Cup |
| June 18, 1995 | Washington, D.C. |  Mexico | 3–0 | 4–0 | 1995 U.S. Cup |
Sheffield Wednesday
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