San Jose and D.C. face each other in MLS 29 years after the league’s debut: What’s changed, and what hasn’t?

Twenty-nine years ago, and April 6, 1996, Major League Soccer’s first game ever kicked off when the San Jose Clash faced D.C. United. On that day, the Clash won 1-0 behind a goal from Eric Wynalda, defeating a side managed by Bruce Arena with John Harkes leading the team’s midfield. Much has changed since then, but then again, much hasn’t. As MLS turns 30, D.C. United once again take the pitch to face the San Jose Earthquakes Sunday at PayPal Park. Arena is still coaching, now with San Jose, and a Harkes is still getting set to lineup in midfield, with Ian Harkes, John’s son in the San Jose squad. Truly, that the more that things change, the more that they stay the same. 

Arena has done it all since making the jump from the University of Virginia to becoming a seasoned MLS and United States men’s national team coach, so it’s only right that he’ll be here to celebrate the league’s 30th anniversary, albeit on the opposite sideline than the one that he began on. 

“Fear” is the way that the elder Harkes described how he was feeling in the lead up to that inaugural match. The USMNT star was fresh off of joining D.C. United from Derby County after a loan to West Ham United and as an American who broke into the Premier League and made a name in the English game, looked at the beginning of the league as full of uncertainty. Harkes only had about 10 or 11 days of training before that game but having a coach who he was familiar with from his college days in Arena went a long way.

Building a league from the ground up

“Playing in the Premier League, I was fortunate enough to have a six-and-a-half-year career over there and be the first American to make it in the Premier League, so it was kind of daunting coming into a league in the unknown,” Harkes said. “We kept thinking about how the old North American Soccer League folded and that’s where I wanted to go. I wanted to play pro there. I was a ball boy for the Cosmos with Pele and [Franz] Beckenbauer, and they have a massive influence on me in a positive way.

“For me it was always like a chip on my shoulder to be a builder, to grow the game in this country, and regardless that we wanted to take on that responsibility trying to get a league off the ground.”

No one would’ve known that playing on the narrow confines of Spartan Stadium was going to be the precursor to players like David Beckham, Kaka, and Lionel Messi coming to MLS but Harkes was right, soccer was here to stay and this game is even more meaningful in the lead up to the United States gearing up to host the Club World Cup in 2025, men’s World Cup in 2026 and, likely, the Women’s World Cup in 2031. 

30 years later

It was quite a moment in time and the Clash have now become the Earthquakes, but when legendary broadcaster Andres Cantor kicked the first ball to set the match in motion, on came a chain reaction of soccer that’s still in motion to this day.

“There was no understanding around the world of what MLS looks like. We understand how the Serie A plays, how the Premier League plays, what’s expected in La Liga, Ligue 1 in France but we’ve never understood what does that even look like,” Harkes said.

We still don’t fully know what MLS will look like in 29 more years, as roster mechanics continue to shift and player quality rises, but it is clear that the league has become a global force, and staying on the current path, that will only continue. Ahead of the match, John’s son, Ian took a little time to reflect on this as well.

“It’s a testament to the risk that they took to start that league, the hard work that they put on and obviously they’re fighting for themselves and their livelihoods, but obviously it set the ground for the league to be what it is now,” Ian Harkes said. 

“I don’t think that any of them thought that Leo Messi would be in the league now, and Beckham and all these guys. Luis Suarez, you could go down the list. There’s been so many guys now, legends, replacing them, but they were obviously the start of it, so if they weren’t a part of that I never would’ve been here.”

Arena admitted that he didn’t have a team ready to play kicking things off in 1996, but that didn’t stop them from coming together and winning MLS Cup in that same year by defeating the Los Angeles Galaxy. He showed from the start what both his coaching style was about, but also how strong the team available to him was. From USMNT internationals like Jeff Agoos, Eddie Pope and Harkes to Jamie Moreno and Marco Etcheverry, this was quite a strong side and they lived up to expectations to make history that can never be broken as the first ever MLS Cup champions.

Looking to rediscover success?

Even now, when asked to reflect on the moment when he hears on the loudspeaker that this will be the 30th anniversary of that match, Arena immediately turned to say that there’s a game to win — of course, also pointing out that he’s going to give Wynalda some shtick for scoring on him. But he also did note the improvement in the league in the last 30 years.

“Everyone’s a little better than they were in 96. The quality of the league is much improved. We’ve gone from 10 teams to 30, which is remarkable,” Arena said. “Strong ownership and some good players and one of the best players in the history of the game playing in our league. So there’s a lot of positives over the last 30 years.”

For Arena, Harkes and the other builders of this league. While they may not have been able to imagine where their contributions would’ve led, this weekend is a time to celebrate them while also looking to move forward with improving both of these teams on the pitch. San Jose has only made the playoffs once out of the last four seasons while D.C. United has missed the playoffs in five consecutive seasons. For D.C. United head coach Troy Lesesne that history weighs heavily.

“Our goal and our mission is to resurrect the history of the club and the legacy of the club and make us more relevant because that hasn’t been the case in the last five seasons and really 10 seasons with only one playoff win since 2015, I believe. It’s a tall task, there’s a great degree of difficulty in terms of trying to turn things around, but that’s the challenge we want and that’s why I feel like I’m here right now.”  

Being MLS originals, that’s not good enough but it does show that while the league has grown, that doesn’t mean that it has favored the teams who were here first. This is why it’s a must-win match for both coaches, because while the history is great to fall back on, the goal is for both to break their playoff droughts while looking to return to the pinnacle of MLS.

How to watch San Jose Earthquakes vs. D.C. United, odds

• Date: Sunday, April 6 | Time: 5 p.m. ET
• Location: PayPal Park — San Jose, California
• Live stream: MLS Season Pass
• Odds: San Jose Earthquakes +115; Draw +280; D.C. United +200