Former U.S. soccer player coaches Huddersfield into English Premier League
For the second time in 12 months a miracle has struck English soccer, and this time the primary architect is an American.
Kind of.
David Wagner is a German soccer coach who completed an extraordinary journey on Monday, taking Huddersfield Town, an unheralded and underfunded team in the second-tier Championship division, into the star-crossed enclave of the English Premier League.
Wagner has never lived in the United States but did play eight games for the U.S. national team between 1996-1998, qualifying for selection on account of the heritage of his father, an American serviceman.
A talented forward, Wagner felt he didn’t get a fair shake under coach Steve Sampson, and when he drifted away from the program, U.S. fans never had cause to think much about him again.
Until now. Huddersfield’s victory in the Championship playoff with Reading at Wembley Stadium was effectively a $220 million shootout, such is the value that being part of the EPL and its massive television deal brings.
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A nerve-wracking penalty shootout after regulation and extra time ended scoreless got the job done, and completed Wagner’s incredible story. It is not quite on the level of Leicester City’s 5,000-to-1 triumph to win the previous season’s EPL title, but it is not far shy.
Huddersfield has not played in the top division of English soccer since 1972 and it wasn’t supposed to get close to contending for a spot this season. It has one of the lowest wage structures in the Championship, capping salaries at just over $600,000. It passes on the fruits of its frugality, offering fans, especially those who have a long history of supporting the club, cut price deals on tickets. As a result, some fans will get a full season of EPL home games for just $170 starting in August.
Wagner spent four years under now-Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp at German giant Borussia Dortmund before taking over at Huddersfield and sparking a transformation. His methods are innovative, which means they will soon surely be tried by plenty of others.
The team trains in the afternoon, different to almost every other English pro team, to allow fans to come and watch practice and to more closely replicate the kickoff times of games.
Before the season he took his players to Sweden on a Bear Grylls-style wilderness bonding exercise that involved no soccer training but reaped serious rewards.
When Bob Bradley was fired after short stint with Swansea this season it seemed as if it would be a long wait before another American got a chance in arguably the world’s most difficult domestic competition.
Now, just months later, Wagner is there. Even if his links with the States are a little remote, American soccer will happily claim him.
