SOME (SOCCER) OPINION ... MOSTLY FACT

Of the more than 350 members inducted into the Virginia State Sports Hall of Fame since 1972, a grand

 total of five represent the world’s favorite game -- soccer or futbol to be more precise. They are 

Lynchburg College’s Bill Shellenberger, who won 371 games in 31 years, never had a losing record, and is 

member of six halls of fame; Angela Hucles, from Virginia Beach and four-times All-ACC at the 

University of Virginia; Rob Ukrop, native Richmonder who was an All-American at Davidson, is the 

Richmond Kickers’ all-time scorer and currently is the local pro team’s CEO; Helmut Werner, a native of 

the Ukraine who played for Shellenberger at Lynchburg and had a record of 417-242-66 in 43 years as 

coach at Randolph-Macon; and arguably the best midfielder to play for the U.S. National Men’s team, 

U.Va., All- American Claudio Reyna … the last soccer player to enter the state hall (Class of 2017). It’s 

not who is in but … who is not. Long-time William & Mary coach Al Albert, for example. From 1971 

through 2003 Albert’s Indians (they were called then) went 401-187-69 and went to seven NCAA 

tournaments reaching the Elite 8 in 1980 and 1996. At last count Albert was among only eight college 

coaches who won as many as 400 games. As far as he knows, Albert never has been nominated for the 

state sports hall. “I can live without it but, of course, it would be wonderful … a big deal. I would be 

honored,” he said. “I mean, what price is immortality?” Now a fund raiser for W&M athletics, we asked 

him for some insight, like who else should be included. Without hesitation, Albert said first and foremost 

was Bruce Arena whom he called “the best U.S. soccer coach of all time.”

 Before leaving the University of Virginia for the opening of Major League Soccer in 1996, Arena won 

five NCAA championships including for in a row. He then directed D.C. United to two MLS title and the

 Los Angeles Galaxy to three more. In between he took the United States Men’s National Team to the 

quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup, the USMNT best finish in modern times. More recently, Major 

League Soccer’s New England Revolution won the 2021 regular-season title with a record-73 points under 

Arena, who – for reasons still not explained – was suspended by MLS in late July, 2023 and resigned more 

than six weeks later. There were unconfirmed reports he said something that was taken to be racist 

although no one has accused him publicly … other than a TV-type who quickly said she was mistaken and 

later fired apparently for her comments. “There have been a lot of things he shouldn’t have said … but I 

haven’t been able to find out what the last thing was,” Albert said. “Bruce has not been a racist. He jushas a big mouth.”

 In fact, Arena always has done things his way and said what he thought, whether it was 

popular or not. I know, I know … they are old, OLD lines but nothing describes him better than: He 

marches to the tune of his own drummer and … doesn’t suffer fools easily. We were told he had been 

nominated for Virginia’s HofF a year ago, which turned out not to be true.

“He didn’t become eligible until he no longer was active,” said hall of fame director Will Driscoll, “… and 

it was too late for him to beat the Sept. 1 deadline [for nominations] this year.” 

 LAST WEEK’S death of  arguably England’s all-time greatest soccer player Bobby Charlton brought to 

mind former Kickers’ coac Dennis Viollet, who was a teammate at Manchester United and, like 

Charlton,survived a 1958 plane crash that took the lives of 21 people among them seven members of 

ManU’s “Busby Babes.” Like Charlton, 

Viollet was a scoring machine. Also, from what we’ve read about Charlton, they had something else in 

common: very nice people who didn’t let success go to their head. The Kickers had their best season ever. 

under Viollet, claiming both the USISL championship as well as U.S. Open Cup in 1995. He left after the 

following season to return to Jacksonville, Fla., where he died in 1999 of cancer at age 65. 

 

FORMER U.VA. STAR John Harkes, 45, resigned Tuesday as coach of the USL League One Greenville, 

S.C., Triumph. He had been on the job since the team’s inception in 2019, qualifying for the playoffs 

every year and winning a championship (2020) while twice finishing runner-up.

The Triumph was 60-37-37 under Harkes and most recently bowed in the post-season quarterfinals to 

Charlotte. No specific reason was given for his decision but, unlike some other career changes, to date there has been no suggestion all was not well between Harkes and the people in charge.

 The first American to play in the English Premier League, the native of Kearny, N.J., became the center 

of considerable controversy in 1998 when he was named USMNT “captain for life” by then-coach Steve 

Sampson who, shortly thereafter, dropped Harkes from his World Cup roster. 

Sampson took considerable heat for his decision but refused to acknowledge the real reason until more 

than 12 years later when Eric Wynalda, a teammate, said Harkes had an affair with his wife. Harkes 

denied the accusation, and Wynalda, who divorced his wife a few years later, also said he tried to get 

Sampson to change his mind and keep Harkes on the team. 

Having retired as a player in 2003, Harkes began his coaching career as an assistant at D.C. United. In 

2016, he was named first coach of FC Cincinnati and posted a 12-6-6 record. But, shortly before what 

would have been his second season with the then-third division USL team, he was fired for reasons 

described as “unstructured and chaotic” behind the scenes. 

 HERE’S HOPING the new Major League Soccer team in San Diego is more imaginative on the field than 

its owners have been off it. They announced the name Tuesday: San Diego Football Club. The logo has 18 

lines … for the 18 communities in the area. “Looks like a ball of yarn,” said one obviously unimpressed fan.

 Until next time ...