The Man in Black: Whitecaps legend returns with LAFC
Former hero returning as ‘the enemy’ to be honoured in pre-game ceremony
Major League Soccer is a league of change, of constant turnover.
Players arrive, players leave. The convoluted world of MLS contracts and salary caps make it inevitable, let alone the transformation of a team trying to change its composition or constitution.
Case in point? The Whitecaps. There were 17 departures from last year’s roster alone.
Then there’s Jordan Harvey. For seven years he was a fixture on the Caps’ back line. He’s the alltime MLS leader in appearances (200), starts (169) and minutes played. He was the team’s 2016 player of the year. With his offfield charity work leading him to be named the Caps’ 2013 Humanitarian of the Year, it’s not hyperbole to say he was a hero to many fans.
And now, as another once said: “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”
Harvey will take the field Friday at B.C. Place Stadium — dressed, appropriately enough, in black — as a member of LAFC. The villain.
“We’re enemies,” quipped Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson.
“We knew him pretty well. Now he’s a rival. During the 90 minutes, it’s going to be a war,” said centreback Kendall Waston, who was asked if he’d take it easy on his former teammate.
“No. Even if I played against my mom, I would tackle her.”
There will be more jokes, hugs and probably some tears when Harvey takes the field. Before the 7 p.m. start, there will be a pre-game ceremony honouring him for his time with the club.
“He texted me this morning. He was trying to get the inside scoop (on the ceremony) and I’m not giving it to him,” said a chuckling Ed Georgica, the team’s head of operations and facilities, and one of his close friends.
“He’s excited and a little nervous at the same time. Jordan’s a very sensitive guy. We all try and be macho, but he’s a sensitive guy. I’ll have a box of Kleenex close.”
The Caps and Harvey have seen each other already, a 4-4 pre-season game at UCLA in February, but Friday’s game will be just as strange for both.
“I saw him in the black and gold, and it was weird,” said striker Erik Hurtado, who’s been with the team for six years, second only to Russell Teibert. “I’d been playing against him every day in training for five years … It was bizarre.”
Around 80 players rotated in and out during Harvey ’s time here. The end of his tenure began when Marcel de Jong unseated him at left back toward the end of 2017.
Harvey’s contract expired after the season, and being over 28 and having at least eight years in MLS, became a free agent instead of entering the MLS Re-Entry Draft. When the Caps decided to move on from one of their most popular players, former Caps teammate and current general manager of LAFC, John Thorrington, came calling, and the player humorously nicknamed “Goal Machine” jumped at the chance to move back to his hometown.
The 34-year-old Mission Viejo, Calif., native joined an expansion side for the third time in his MLS career, having played for the Philadelphia Union and the Whitecaps in their inaugural seasons. After being named Gatorade’s national player of the year in 2001 while playing for Capistrano Valley high school, he helped UCLA win four straight PAC-10 titles.
“It was a little nostalgic feeling, coming home and training in a place like UCLA,” he said this week. “It was strange coming back into this environment … but being so familiar with it, even though it was a new team, a new organization.
“It’s been a really great experience coming down south. There were a bunch of different reasons for coming down south. First, it was the soccer ... and then there was the family aspect of it. I’m really happy with the decision I made.”
And this coming from a player who has seen eight minutes of action in two games through the team’s first four contests. But it’s that selfless, professional attitude that made him indispensable to the Whitecaps. His work mentoring some of the younger players was when he “blossomed as a professional,” said Georgica.
He’s in a similar role with LAFC, helping defenders like starter Joao Moutinho, the first overall pick in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft, and Tristan Blackmon find their way in their rookie seasons.
Playing for former U.S. National Team coach Bob Bradley was also one of Harvey ’s motivations to join LAFC, and as much as he’s teaching his young teammates, he’s also learning.
“The hardest thing to adapt to was their style of play. Bob is really focused in playing his brand,” said Harvey. “It’s great for me, even as an older player, as I’m learning a lot of new things and I feel like getting better, even at my age. We’re learning how Bob wants us to play, and learning the nuances of the players you’re playing with.
“Physically, I feel good. Obviously, I’m not starting right now, but I feel like I’m playing really good football. For me, it’s just keep grinding, keep getting better, and hopefully minutes will come. I’m just being patient and waiting for my opportunity.”
Part of the reason behind Harvey’s move to California were the opportunities there for his wife, former American Idol singer Kimberly Caldwell. But his past will always be part of him, and that’s not counting the tattoo of B.C. Place and English Bay he has on his arm.
“I’m going to see a lot of the same places, the same faces that helped me along the way, so it’s going to be great to see them and catch up,” he said. “It’s going to be emotional. I built my family there. I built my home there. … The most important moments in my life up until now happened in Vancouver.”
I’m not starting right now, but I feel like I’m playing really good football . ... I’m just being patient and waiting for my opportunity.