EDITOR’S NOTE:<\/em> In celebration of Major League Soccer’s 30th season, MLSsoccer.com is exploring untold stories about all 30 clubs. “30 Clubs, 30 Stories”<\/a> will be unveiled throughout 2025.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Troy Lesesne is describing what D.C. United<\/a>\u2019s proud history means to the club, and how he and his staff work to connect the present-day Black-and-Red to that story.<\/p>\n Sometimes, though, heritage is more easily shown than told.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you don’t mind, I’ll walk,\u201d said United\u2019s head coach near the conclusion of a video-conference interview, grabbing his laptop and venturing down the hallway at their training facility in exurban Virginia for an impromptu tour.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Since taking the helm last year, Lesesne has sought to rekindle D.C.\u2019s relationship with both their past and their purpose, installing a series of wall displays in common areas at the Inova Performance Complex. One reads \u2018United For Family,\u2019 arrayed with photos of loved ones. Another is \u2018United For Our Community,\u2019 with images of their charitable efforts and service projects across the D.C.\/Maryland\/Virginia region \u2013 the club\u2019s founding motto is \u201cwin championships, and serve the community,\u201d after all.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s \u2018United For Our History,\u2019 a long sequence of photos from three decades of achievement in Major League Soccer and beyond, from the memorable group that hoisted the first-ever MLS Cup in 1996 to current star Christian Benteke<\/a>\u2019s capture of Golden Boot and Best XI honors in 2024.<\/p>\n Perhaps the most eye-catching is the \u2018United For Our Legacy\u2019 display: Two glossy boards emblazoned with a list of honors, both team and individual, up for grabs each season. Next to each item is the number of times it\u2019s been won by a D.C. team or player \u2013 and those numbers are on removable tiles, so that present and future generations can add to the tally.<\/p>\n \u201cThere’s really not many clubs that have the legacy. It\u2019s just us and the LA Galaxy<\/a>, really, to have that degree of legacy, right? And so this is actually an actionable wall,\u201d Lesesne explained.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s almost a mission and a sort of bridging the generational gap between these early years and now, and how the educational piece of that is important for the players to know,\u201d he noted. \u201cBecause it’ll mean more, but also, it’ll inspire them to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Though many of his squad weren\u2019t even born yet, Lesesne, 41, knows plenty about the old days. Growing up in Columbia, South Carolina, D.C. were his closest MLS club in geographic terms, and United\u2019s excellence made them far and away the most respected and recognizable side in the league\u2019s first half-decade \u2013 its first dynasty.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was the club that set the standard, really, in the league,\u201d said Lesesne, \u201cand the types of talent that they had in terms of Marco Etcheverry, Jaime Moreno, John Harkes, Eddie Pope, Tony Sanneh, the list goes on \u2013 those were the players that I looked up to.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing that stands out is the amount of talent that the team had. There was a ton of personalities in that group that were extremely competitive, played at some really high levels that MLS hadn’t seen \u2026 That really set the tone for what a club could be.\u201d<\/p>\n Not only did they win three of the first four MLS Cups out of the gate. They also claimed a US Open Cup<\/a>, two Supporters\u2019 Shields and a Concacaf Champions Cup<\/a> \u2013 to this day, that remains an honor only two other MLS clubs have ever achieved \u2013 and did something truly unparalleled in 1998, defeating Brazilian powers Vasco da Gama over two legs in the final edition of the Copa Interamericana, becoming the only US or Canadian side who can claim to be champions of the entire hemisphere.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have the best team in America. We beat the champion of the Copa Libertadores, we are the winners of the Concacaf championship. So D.C. United was the best team in America, from North to South America,\u201d recalled Etcheverry, the team\u2019s silky-smooth playmaker. \u201cIf you realize, it’s unbelievable. D.C. United was the best team \u2013 we’re representing USA, soccer from USA. I think it’s a big, big result for soccer in America.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Even though expansion newcomers Chicago Fire FC<\/a>, led by former D.C. assistant Bob Bradley, upset them in the league title match, that \u201898 side was probably United\u2019s peak.<\/p>\n Etcheverry pulled the strings as the No. 10; MLS Rookie of the Year winner Ben Olsen, tenacious terrier Richie Williams and longtime US men\u2019s national team<\/a> captain John Harkes brought range and class in midfield. Prolific scorers Jaime Moreno and Roy Lassiter provided both pace and guile up front. Eddie Pope and Jeff Agoos, who between them logged 216 caps and five World Cup campaigns for the USMNT, anchored a stout defense.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat memories. Such a talented group, and also combined the talent with just a passion to win, a real grittiness,\u201d Harkes told MLSsoccer.com this week. \u201cIt was just a great mix, a great group of people. That camaraderie, that everybody fighting for each other, was evident.\u201d<\/p>\n Overseeing it all was Bruce Arena, in his first of many jobs at the professional level after building an NCAA soccer powerhouse at the University of Virginia, where he won five national championships from 1989-94 and nurtured the likes of Agoos, Harkes and Olsen.<\/p>\n This was no overnight success story, however. D.C. lost seven of their first 14 matches in the inaugural \u201896 season, prompting Arena \u2013 who in the opening months was also juggling his role as the coach of that summer\u2019s U.S. Olympic team \u2013 to make major changes to the roster as year one unfolded. Even as he chopped and changed in search of the mix he wanted, the coach crafted tight bonds among the squad, holding barbeques at United\u2019s training facility to which spouses and children were invited, fostering a family atmosphere.<\/p>\n \u201cHe knows I love him. He’s unbelievable, man. He’s unbelievable, how he treats the player, how he works, he understands; he knew when a player was feeling good, or maybe not, because it’s a normal life and we\u2019re human and we have problems,\u201d said Etcheverry, who speaks of Arena as \u201ca second dad\u201d to him and his teammates.<\/p>\n \u201cI think one of my best coaches I have in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Moreno\u2019s midsummer arrival from English outfit Middlesbrough turned out to be a watershed moment; the Black-and-Red won six of their last eight down the stretch as the Bolivian struck up strong chemistry with his compatriot Etcheverry and Salvadoran striker Ra\u00fal D\u00edaz Arce. Quick, clever and clinical, Moreno would blossom into a club icon, playing a key role in all four of the club\u2019s MLS Cup wins and becoming a four-time All-Star, five-time MLS Best XI, and MLS All-Time Best XI honoree. Even today, his 133 goals in 340 games rank fifth on the league\u2019s all-time scoring chart.<\/p>\n It took a comeback of epic proportions to secure their first trophy, United storming back from 2-0 down to edge the Galaxy 3-2 via Pope\u2019s extra-time golden goal on a rain-soaked pitch at the old Foxboro Stadium in Massachusetts. Yet their collective swagger was well-established as the \u201897 campaign got underway, turning noisy RFK Stadium into one of the league\u2019s most dreaded destinations.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, you do need to have talent. But Bruce can take a situation \u2013 I think it’s been proven out over his career \u2013 and get a collective group to push in the same direction,\u201d said Dave Johnson, United\u2019s broadcast voice since year one on both television and radio.<\/p>\n \u201cFor this league to still be around right now, it needed a D.C. United in the early years,\u201d he noted. \u201cIt needed a franchise, a club that had dynamic leadership, and you will not find more dynamic than Kevin Payne and Bruce Arena.\u201d<\/p>\n Intertwined with success on the pitch was the vibrant supporter culture United fostered in the stands at RFK, their home for the first 22 years of their existence, and their outreach efforts, not just introducing themselves and the sport to their communities but investing time and money into service projects.<\/p>\n Payne, D.C.\u2019s president and CEO, was an experienced soccer hand who right away saw the importance of providing space for the Washington region\u2019s devoted fans, many hailing from a constellation of expatriate and immigrant communities, to chant, sing and drum for 90 minutes like their counterparts around the world, even when it shocked stadium staff accustomed to the more orderly norms of U.S. sports.<\/p>\n \u201cHe would go into the stands and calm situations where security had never \u2013 yes, the Washington football team had crazy atmosphere,\u201d recalled Johnson, \u201cbut RFK never bounced like that, with drums and people standing up. Because what do the ushers and security typically tell Americans at sporting events? \u2018Sit down, behave,\u2019 whatever, and all of a sudden you’ve got people throwing stuff in the air and beer showers. And you had Kevin Payne in the middle trying to calm things down and to educate the security on the supporters. So it was every little detail like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n D.C.\u2019s fans quickly discovered that the stand on aging RFK\u2019s west side, which was designed to move along rails so the venue could be configured for baseball as well as football and soccer, would sway and bounce when they jumped in unison. That turned the supporters\u2019 section into a pulsating maelstrom right on the midfield stripe, \u201cthe loud side\u201d in United parlance, while the west stand, or \u201cquiet side,\u201d welcomed newbies, families with small children and others with slightly less intensity of fervor.<\/p>\n \u201cRFK was a cathedral for us,\u201d said Harkes. \u201cIt was a feeling that when we came out of that tunnel, it was like, \u2018Wow, this is a stage.\u2019 We knew we were playing for the people. We weren’t playing for ourselves. We were always playing for our fans, who from day one came out and supported us, and were probably the loudest in the country and the most raucous.<\/p>\n \u201cThe stands were shifting and moving and bouncing, and even if we were losing games, that was going on,\u201d he added. \u201cFor us, it was like a true connection.\u201d<\/p>\n Over time, the psychological advantage became palpable.<\/p>\n \u201cThey don’t want to go to RFK; they know they’re going to have a very bad time. They know the fan is going to be all the 90 minutes, supporting our team. It was very loud,\u201d said Etcheverry, whose skill and confidence helped draw legions from the area\u2019s large Bolivian community. \u201cThat was beautiful, beautiful. I remember every minute, from \u201896 to when I retired.\u201d<\/p>\n Those fans got to witness United\u2019s second MLS Cup triumph in person. A sellout crowd of 57,431 braved a cold, heavy rain to pack RFK \u2013 even with the NFL\u2019s Washington and Baltimore teams facing off down the road in Landover, Maryland around the same time \u2013 as D.C. beat the Colorado Rapids<\/a> 2-1. Three days later the Black-and-Red beat the Dallas Burn on penalties in the US Open Cup final in Indianapolis, the United legend taking root.<\/p>\n They kept rolling even after Arena departed to take over the USMNT after the 1998 season, succeeded by Thomas Rongen, who led D.C. to a Shield-Cup double in \u201899. Soon the dynasty began to crumble, squad depth ebbing away as the fledgling league\u2019s leaders fretted that their dominance would compromise MLS\u2019s parity. United missed the playoffs entirely in 2000 and didn’t make it back until 2003, before regaining glory under Peter Nowak and Tom Soehn with a 2004 MLS Cup win and back-to-back Shield-winning campaigns in 2006-07.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Few faces or traces remain from the old days now. After decades of searching, D.C. finally moved into Audi Field, the soccer-specific home they so badly needed, in 2018, and opened the Inova Performance Complex three years later. As necessary as the new digs were, RFK\u2019s soul has been difficult to replace: Audi has hosted just one MLS postseason match thus far, a knockout-round loss to Columbus<\/a> in its first season, and United have failed to qualify for five years straight, laboring to keep pace in a rapidly growing, advancing league.<\/p>\n Lesesne and his colleagues are working to change that, and hope raising the echoes of the past can inspire new achievements from their group.<\/p>\n \u201cIt goes deeper at D.C. United than just wins and losses. That’s the number-one criteria, don’t get me wrong. But it’s also about how you’re doing that, how you’re connecting with the community. We’re really working hard in all those ways to try to get the club back to where it deserves to be,\u201d said United\u2019s current boss.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a lot of work to do in order to get anywhere close to where those guys set the standard in the early years. But that’s something that’s inspirational for our group, and that’s what we’re working towards.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\nClub history<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Setting the standard<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Stars align<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Dynamic leadership<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Winning over the city<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Recapturing the magic<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n