Jack Harrison (footballer, born 1996)

Jack Harrison (born 20 November 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for New York City FC in Major League Soccer. He was selected as the #1 overall pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft and was rated as the second best player in MLS under the age of 24 the same year.^[1][2]

Career

Academy and youth

Harrison was born in Stoke-on-Trent and raised in Bolton, Greater Manchester, where he spent seven years in the academy system at Manchester United. He moved to the United States at the age of 14 and attended Berkshire School in Sheffield, Massachusetts.^[3] There, he won the 2015 Gatorade National Boys' Soccer Player of the Year and Gatorade Massachusetts Soccer Player of the Year awards. He was also a two-time NSCAA All-American and won the USYSA Golden Ball in 2014. He scored 24 goals and had 33 assists in three seasons at Berkshire. Harrison helped Berkshire to win the NEPSAC Class A championship for three straight seasons.

College

In 2015, Harrison became the only freshman to have made any of the three All-American teams, being a NSCAA First Team All-American. He also won the Atlantic Coast Conference Offensive Player, ACC Freshman of the Year, First Team All-ACC, ACC All-Freshman Team selection, MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist and the Gatorade National Player of the Year Award. Harrison played for Wake Forest University.

New York City

In December 2015, reports emerged that New York City were attempting to claim Harrison as a homegrown player due to him playing with NYCFC youth affiliate Manhattan Soccer Club for the prior three years, allowing them to sign him before the draft.^[4] However this claim was rejected by MLS, and Harrison entered the 2016 MLS SuperDraft as the youngest available player. On 14 January 2016, he was selected^[5] as the #1 overall pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft by Chicago Fire and traded to New York City for the #4 overall pick and allocation money.^{[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]} Shorty after the draft it was discovered that Harrison had a fractured pelvic bone which left him on the sidelines for the first three months of his NYCFC career.^[14]

Harrison made his professional debut on 21 May 2016 as a 57th-minute substitute for Thomas McNamara in a 0–7 loss against New York Red Bulls at Yankee Stadium. Harrison's individual performance was described as a "silver lining" for his side.^[15] Harrison became the first teenage scorer for New York City FC^[16] when he scored his first professional goal on his first professional start against Real Salt Lake at Yankee Stadium on 2 June 2016.^[17] On 3 July 2016, Harrison scored the opener in the Hudson River Derby putting in a man of the match performance as NYCFC recorded their first win over the New York Red Bulls.^[18] At the end of the season, Harrison was nominated for, but ultimately did not win, the MLS Rookie of the Year Award losing out to Jordan Morris.^[19] Harrison was also the runner up for the 2016 MLS Goal of the Year Award losing out to Shkëlzen Gashi.^[20]

Career Statistics

As of 11 November 2016^[21]

Honours

Individual

• Gatorade Player of the Year: 2015^[22]
• 2015 NSCAA First Team All-American
• 2015 ACC Offensive Player of the Year
• 2015 ACC Freshman of the Year
• 2015 First Team All-ACC
• 2015 MAC Hermann Trophy - Semifinalist
• MLS Team of the Week (3): 2016 Week 15,^[23] 2016 Week 17,^[24] 2016 Week 28^[25]
• MLS Player of the Week: 2016 Week 17^[26]
• MLS Goal of the Week: 2016 Week 19^[27]
• NYCFC Player of the Month: June 2016^[28]

References

External links

• MLS.com profile
• New York City FC profile