Major League Soccer is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the first match in league history. One member of the Inter Miami family, Jason Kreis, participated in the league’s inaugural season as a player. The current Fort Lauderdale CF head coach and Inter Miami CF Senior Academy Director helped usher in a new era of North American soccer, leaving a lasting impact throughout the continent.
Kreis’ extensive career in MLS is one marked by several landmark moments and impressive records. He is a seminal figure in the league, one who helped establish two different franchises as a player and one who continues to shape the league beyond his playing days. He first began to shape the league in his time playing as a forward for the Dallas Burn.
“Some moments seem like they weren’t that long ago, but other moments seem like they were such a long time ago. The first game of the season in Dallas against San Jose was a big moment. There was a lot of anticipation, anxiety, eagerness and nerves leading up to that game,” said Kreis, reminiscing on the early stages of both his career and the league. “The day of the game was incredible, just the lead up to the game and we get there and there's, I don't remember if it was 35,000 people in the Cotton Bowl, and that was just an incredible experience.”
Kreis didn’t take long to make his mark both in Dallas and league wide. He impressed as a rookie, leading the team with 13 regular season goals. He also scored the first goal in Burn history (a feat he would later replicate in Real Salt Lake’s first season, becoming the first player to score the first-ever goal for two franchises).
“The season ended up being a really good one for me individually. I think I scored about 15 goals and I had quite a few assists,” he said. “It was crazy as a first-year player to experience all that and to experience some success. It was a fun year for sure.”
“People ask me about goals a lot, and there's certainly not too many of them that I remember… but I do remember that one for sure,” he added. “Ted [Eck] passed it to John [Kerr Jr.] on the left side of the field, and John ran the ball down and cut the ball back across to me. In the end, it was an easy finish and I’m thankful that he was so kind to pass that ball to me to allow me to score the first goal in Dallas Burn history.”
His extensive list of accomplishments doesn’t stop there, either, as he continued to etch his name into the history books. Kreis would go on to win 1999 MLS MVP, becoming the first American-born player to win the award. He held the record of MLS all-time top scorer from 2004 to 2007, currently sits seventh in league history and was the first player to score 100 MLS goals.
Kreis holds several franchise records for both Dallas and Salt Lake, retiring as the Dallas leader in games played, goals and assists. He was also the first official player in Real Salt Lake team history.
The veteran of the North American soccer landscape made a seamless transition to management after his playing days, taking over as Real Salt Lake head coach, and eventually helping several franchises in their early stages in the league including New York City FC in its inaugural 2015 season, launching Orlando City SC’s soccer-specific stadium in 2017 and now Inter Miami. With Salt Lake in 2009 he made history, becoming the youngest head coach in MLS history (34) to win MLS Cup.
“The fondest memory I have of MLS in its 25 years? That one's easy. It’s 2009. I did some nice things as a player, like 1999 league MVP, the league-leading scorer, some nice statistics and Best XI that year, but those individual statistics meant nothing to me compared to the ability to win an MLS Cup.”
Throughout his time in the league Kreis has seen MLS make major strides. He has seen the league blossom into an impactful global entity firsthand, playing a part in helping it reach this point.
“I look at the league now and I oftentimes think that I probably would've never made it in this league if I was coming out now. I just didn't have the raw athleticism, the size, the speed, the strength that a lot of these players have. So I got by on two things: a lot of soccer intelligence and a whole lot of grit and hard work.”
“It's absolutely miraculous,” concluded Kreis. “It's absolutely incredible where the league has come in in 25 years.”
