Bernie James (born November 25, 1958, in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

) 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 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

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 (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

, 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. ...

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 (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

due to the United States' boycott in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. He also earned two

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

with the U.S. national team in 1988.

High school

While born in England, James grew up along with his brothers: Greg, Joe, Chris, and David and sister Tara, in Washington state. He attended Bellevue High School in

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside (King County, Washington), Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area, and the f ...

, 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 Chicago Sting (1974–1988) was an American professional soccer team representing Chicago. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the 1982–83 season and again from ...

. 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 The Tacoma Stars are an American professional indoor soccer team based in Tacoma, Washington, that competes in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL). The franchise also operates in USL League Two, a minor outdoor league. Founded in 2003, the indo ...

for two seasons before returning to Cleveland to join the

Cleveland Crunch The Cleveland Crunch is an American professional indoor soccer club located in Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in 1989 as an expansion team in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), the Crunch played a total of 16 seasons in three separate leagues unde ...

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 compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team was founded by Gi ...

of the

Western Soccer Alliance The Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer ...

. 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 The United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL) was a semi-professional men's outdoor soccer league that played six seasons from 1989 to 1994. It was the first outdoor league to be operated by the organization known today as the United ...

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 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 is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

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

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

boycotted the games following the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

invasion of Afghanistan Shortly after the September 11 attacks in 2001, the United States declared the war on terror and subsequently led a multinational military operation against Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The stated goal was to dismantle al-Qaeda, which had exe ...

. James earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

with the U.S. national team in a 1–1 tie with

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

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 Joey Kirk (born August 21, 1965, in Santa Monica, California) is a former U.S. soccer forward who spent most of his career playing indoor soccer. He earned seven caps with the U.S. national team in 1987 and 1988. College Kirk attended Cal-St ...

Coaching

In 1997, James was hired by Roosevelt High School in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington to coach its girls' soccer team. That year he also became a coach with Crossfire Premier Soccer Club. 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 playoff

In the summer of 2023, KNKX reported allegations of an "abusive culture" among coaches at Crossfire Premier, including James. Alleged behavior by coaches included racist comments and sexual harassment towards players and staff. On July 20, 2024, KNKX reported that U.S. Soccer confirmed the coaching license suspension of Bernie James.

Honors

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

References

External links

Crossfire Premier Soccer profile

2000 Sounders Media Guide

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Bernie 1958 births Living people American expatriate sportspeople in Canada American expatriate men's soccer players American Professional Soccer League players American soccer coaches American men's soccer players Cleveland Crunch (original MISL) players Cleveland Force (original MISL) players Edmonton Drillers (1979–1982) players English emigrants to the United States Expatriate men's 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 Soccer players from King County, Washington Seattle Sounders (1974–1983) players Seattle Sounders (1994–2008) players 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 footballers for the United States 20th-century American sportsmen