Before we dive into the question of who was the first American to play in the Premier League, we must note that the official “modern era” of the Premier League began in the 1992-1993 season. England had a top flight league before then, but it was called the First Division.
While the Premier League was a continuation of the top flight league in England, some additional standards were added (stadium requirements, financial requirements, and new business agreements) that would better commercialize the league in the era of worldwide TV exposure. And it worked, as the Premier League is currently the most popular league in the US and worldwide.
US Soccer in the early 90’s
In the 1992-1993 season, American soccer was a far cry from what it is today. The top league in the US was essentially semi-professional, college soccer was the pinnacle that most American youth soccer players could hope to achieve, and the US was a relative backwater in the international game. We only qualified for the 1990 World Cup for the first time in 40 years (and a miraculous goal, see below).
The 90s were a turning point for the game in the US, as hosting the 1994 World Cup and the establishment of the MLS led to a boom in the game in the US. However, the early 90’s saw very few players plying their trade in the top European leagues.
The First American in the Premier League
We did, however, have one player who was paying in the top league in England when the Premier League was established. John Harkes was at Sheffield Wednesday in the top flight from 1990-1993, and played in the inaugural season of the Premier League.
Sheffield Wednesday is probably not a team that newer fans will recognize. They haven’t been back to the Premier League since their relegation in 2000, but before this time they were a relatively successful top-flight club.
Brief History of John Harkes
Back to the first American in the Premier League. In the 80s and 90s, fully professional American soccer players were a rare sight. Only a handful could claim this distinction, and John Harkes was one of them.
He played his college soccer at perennial powerhouse University of Virginia, where he was the national player of the year in 1987. He played with the national team and Olympic team until 1990, making three appearances in the first World Cup for the US men’s national team in 40 years.
He then signed with Sheffield Wednesday of the English second tier (then called the Second Division) in 1990, eventually winning the FA Cup against Manchester United. He notably scored the goal of the season in England with a 35 yard blast past England legend Peter Shilton.
Sheffield Wednesday secured promotion to the top flight the next season (then called the First Division), staying on the squad when that league transitioned into the Premier League.
Harkes had further success in England with Derby County, before moving to DC United as one of the flagship signings for the newly formed MLS in 1996.
He saw success and controversy with the US national team as one of the key players of this team in the 90s, captaining the squad for most of the decade. He was central to a surprising appearance in the second round in the 1994 World Cup on home soil, before a mysterious dispute with teammate Eric Wynalda (later confirmed to involve an affair with his wife) led to his dismissal from the 1998 team a month before the World Cup.
Pioneer
As the first American in the Premier League, John Harkes was a pioneer for American professional soccer players. Although he was one a small handful of American players in the Europe at the time, his success at the club level and with the national team helped legitimize our players in the top level of the game.
It would be a while before we’d see a huge influx of American talent in the top leagues, which makes Harkes’s achievements even more impressive given the stature of American players at the time. While I wouldn’t put him in my top 5 US players of all time, I must note that these contributions were an important part of opening the door for future players. This has in turn helped push our national team and the stature of the sport in this country to newer heights.