It was 20 years ago today that Major League Soccer made its debut.
On April 6, 1996, MLS played their inaugural match when Bruce Arena's D.C. United took on the San Jose Clash at Spartan Stadium in San Jose. The game which was described as "terrible" by the current Galaxy boss ended in a 1-0 win for the Clash off a goal from ex-U.S. National Team star Eric Wynalda.
To commemorate the league's 20th anniversary, MLSsoccer.com's Tim Froh wrote an oral history of the first match that included thoughts from a number of participants including Arena.
" We had a very inexperienced league with a bunch of people who didn't have much experience in soccer at a high level or professional sports, so it was very challenging in the early going. We didn't know what we were about," Arena told MLSsoccer.com. "Obviously, the old days of the NASL were always a shadow on our league from the start. The league was created in a more responsible business manner, and everyone was conscious of that, yet in all honesty none of us really knew where we were going in the early going. It was really challenging from travel to scheduling to selecting players and that process to signing players. It was all new. ... To be honest, we were just scrambling."
Listen to the whole interview with Arena below.
