Bernie James (born November 25, 1958 in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

) is a former U.S.

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player and current youth soccer coach. James spent twenty-four years as a professional, both beginning and ending his career with different versions of the Seattle Sounders. He played in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

, Major Indoor Soccer League,

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

and A-League. He served as an assistant coach with the Sounders for seven seasons and as interim head coach for one. He was a member of the U.S. Olympic soccer team which qualified for, but did not play in, the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

due to the United States' boycott in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. He also earned two caps with the U.S. national team in 1988.

High school

While born in England, James grew up along with his brothers: Greg,

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

, Chris, and David and sister Tara, in Washington state. He attended Bellevue High School in Bellevue, Washington where he was a four-year letterman on the boys' soccer team. He was named to the all League team as a senior in 1977.

NASL

Rather than attending college, James chose to sign with the Seattle Sounders of the

(NASL) after graduating from high school. In his two and a half years with the Sounders, he never played a first team game; instead, he saw time only with the reserve team during the 1978 and 1979 seasons. The Sounders traded him to the Edmonton Drillers in 1980 where he became an integral part of the team over the next three seasons. In addition to playing outdoor with the Drillers, James was a significant part of the 1980–1981 and 1981–1982 NASL indoor seasons. In 1981, Edmonton won the NASL indoor championship over the Chicago Sting. The Drillers folded at the end of the 1982 outdoor season and James jumped to Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL).

MISL

James signed with the Cleveland Force of MISL in 1982 and spent five seasons with them. He was named the 1982-1983 MISL Defender of the Year. In 1987, he moved to the Tacoma Stars for two seasons before returning to Cleveland to join the Cleveland Crunch which had replaced the Force when that team folded in 1988. James spent two more seasons in MISL with the Force, being named a second team All Star in his last season, 1990-1991.

APSL/A-League

In 1988 and 1989, James played two seasons with the

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...

of the Western Soccer Alliance. In 1990, the WSA merged with the American Soccer League to form the

. In April 1994, James signed with the Seattle Sounders of the (APSL) as a player/coach. He played seventeen games of the 1994 season, but was injured during the 1995 pre-season and played no games as the Sounders won the APSL championship. He returned to the field in 1996, seeing time in six games as Seattle won its second consecutive league championship. In 1997, he was fully recovered from injury, anchoring the Sounders defense during thirty-three games. That year, the APSL merged with the

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

and became known as the A-League. James announced his intention to retire during the 2000 pre-season. He played six games that year and retired at the end of the season.

National and Olympic teams

In 1979, James was selected for the U.S. soccer team at the

1979 Pan Am Games The 1979 Pan American Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Panamericanos de 1979''), officially the VIII Pan American Games were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, and were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico, f ...

. The U.S. went 2–0 in first-round group play before dropping both of its second-round group games. In 1979 and 1980, James was part of the U.S. Olympic soccer team as it qualified for the

held in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. However, James and his team mates were unable to compete when President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

boycotted the games following the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

invasion of Afghanistan In late 2001, the United States and its close allies invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban government. The invasion's aims were to dismantle al-Qaeda, which had executed the September 11 attacks, and to deny it a safe base of operations ...

. James earned his first cap with the U.S. national team in a 1–1 tie with

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

on January 6, 1988. Neil Megson, later coach of the Sounders, replaced James in the second half. His second national team game came on March 6, 1988. This was a 3–1 loss to Chile. James again started the game but came off for Joey Kirk.

Coaching

In 1997, James was hired by Roosevelt High School in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington to coach its girls' soccer team. That year he also became a coach with Crossfire Premier Soccer Club where he continues to coach today. In 2003, he became the club's boys' director of coaching. James became interim head coach of the Sounders when Neil Megson resigned on April 19, 2001. The Sounders finished the season 14-13-2 and failed to make the playoffs

Currently, James coaches at Crossfire, a youth soccer club in the Eastside, where he coaches at the Premier Boys level.

Honors

* 1982–1983 MISL Defender of the Year * 1990–1991 Second Team All MISL

External links

Crossfire Premier Soccer profile

2000 Sounders Media Guide

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Bernie 1958 births Living people American expatriate sportspeople in Canada American expatriate soccer players American Professional Soccer League players American soccer coaches American soccer players Cleveland Crunch (original MISL) players Cleveland Force (original MISL) players Edmonton Drillers (1979–1982) players English emigrants to the United States Expatriate soccer players in Canada Seattle Storm (soccer) players Men's association football defenders Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Footballers from Coventry Sportspeople from Bellevue, Washington Seattle Sounders (1974–1983) players Seattle Sounders (1994–2008) players Soccer players from Washington (state) Tacoma Stars players United States men's international soccer players A-League (1995–2004) players Western Soccer Alliance players Footballers at the 1979 Pan American Games Pan American Games competitors for the United States