It was 15 years ago today that (April 6, 1996) that a new era in U.S. soccer officially began. The San Jose Clash hosted DC United in the first ever Major League Soccer match at Spartan Stadium on a sun-soaked day.
MLS Turns 15, Oh How Far We’ve Come
I was in college, just down the street at San Jose State, in fact, and remember this going on, but also remember not really caring. It being April and the sun apparently being out on a Saturday, I probably had other things on my mind. Obviously, my personal fandom has come a long way. More importantly, the league has come even farther.
The league apparently considered Spartan Stadium worthy of this kind of showcase event, something that seems almost unimaginable in this day in age. That stadium had almost all metal bleacher-seating, lacked basic amenities like a video replay board and felt very much like the second-rate college football stadium that it really was. Now, even the teams in the worst situations - coincidentally San Jose and DC United are still two of them - have at least marginally better situations than this.
The fashion sense of players and the league is also a whole lot better. Look, I have a pretty clear recollection of 1996 and I can assure you that those haircuts and uniforms were not very stylish even by that long-gone era’s standards. Anyway, have fun with this little stroll down memory lane.
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