In part one of our six part docuseries on the history of the MLSPA, we explore what life was like in "MLS 1.0."
“Being a part of the league at that time was only about wanting to play.”
What was life really like for players when Major League Soccer was just getting started? As we look back on 20 years of the MLSPA, we sat down with players from across the league’s history to paint a picture of what it was really like to be a part of the first years of MLS.
Hear directly from players, including Landon Donovan, Eddie Pope, Chris Klein, Jimmy Conrad, and more on navigating the ups and downs of excitement and uncertainty in a league that was far from stable. These former players get candid about the struggles of making ends meet and being faced with the stark differences between the perception of being a pro athlete and the realities of life in MLS at the time.
But what kept these players dedicated to a league that at points looked like it might not survive? The one thing they all had...