Palmetto Rewind: Remembering when the Grand Strand hosted an MLS Preseason tournament
The 1999 Myrtle Beach Seadawgs and their MLS Preseason guests.
With Major League Soccer in full preseason mode all across the hemisphere, we’re remembering the time a USISL D3 Pro franchise hosted an MLS preseason tournament in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
The year was 1999 and the Myrtle Beach SeaDawgs were a highly successful USISL D3 team enjoying a very solid run of form in the US lower divisions. The SeaDawgs had won the South Atlantic division in 1997 and were runner up in 1998. The club had hosted the New England Revolution for a post-season friendly in 1997 and were an affiliate of the Kansas City Wizards in 1998. The soccer pedigree along with a history against MLS competition were both there in Myrtle Beach setting the stage for the perfect MLS/SeaDawgs event.
The 1999 season began with the SeaDawgs hosting an MLS Invitational tournament February 7-20.
Billed as “The Biggest Pro Soccer Event ever in South Carolina,” the preseason tournament featured three of the early MLS powerhouse clubs and all their stars playing matches at both Doug Shaw Stadium at Myrtle Beach High School and on the campus of Coastal Carolina University in nearby Conway, SC.
DC United, the Chicago Fire, and the Kansas City Wizards joined the SeaDawgs, Coastal Carolina University, Clemson University, and the University of South Carolina in this event. The two marquee MLS matches were billed the “Clash of Champions” between DC and the Fire while the “Clash of Titans” saw DC play KC. Myrtle Beach played the KC Wizards on February 14 and DC United on February 17 but didn’t face the Fire in the event.
DC were the ’96, ’97 MLS Cup champs and had claimed the Copa Interamericana defeating Vasco da Gama in late 1998. The Fire were the double defending ’98 MLS Cup champs and ’98 US Open Cup champs while the Wizards would go on to raise their MLS Cup in 2000.
DC ran out Eddie Pope, Marco Etcheverry, and Jamie Moreno while the Fire featured Peter Nowak, CJ Brown, Zach Thornton, and Jesse Marsch. Not to be outdone, the Wizards played Tony Meola, Alexi Lalas, Digital Takawira, Preki, and Chris Henderson. The soccer managers of Thomas Rongen (DC), Bob Bradley (Fire), and Ron Newman (KC) completed this who’s who of 1999 MLS stardom.
The matches gave the fans an up-close soccer experience over those two weeks in Myrtle. The players were very gracious with their time and frequently signed autographs and interacted with fans around all the matches.
The preseason tournament would not return in 2000. After a successful preseason, the Seadawgs struggled throughout the 1999 campaign to a seventh-place 4-13 record and the franchise folded after the 1999 USISL season.
Seeing the growth of MLS and the major production even a preseason match gets today, it seems so odd that these matches and stars crowded onto a cramped high school football stadium pitch in the winter of 1999 to kick off the fourth season of this then fledgling league. What a journey it’s been from these simple beginnings to today.
The Charleston Battery would later host their own South Carolina MLS preseason event called the Carolina Challenge Cup off and on from 2004 to 2022…but that’s another story for another time.