Jimmy McLaughlin was already a standout soccer player for FC Delco and Great Valley High School by the time he heard the news of MLS starting a franchise in Philadelphia as a 15-year-old. While the Union academy wasn’t quite as established as it is today at the time, McLaughlin attributes his development to great coaching in the Philadelphia area (specifically shouting out Great Valley coach Dave Moffett) as well as his own grit and hard work.
The second homegrown player in club history after Zach Pfeffer, McLaughlin’s path to the pros included a unique step in terms of Union homegrowns: a year in college.
“I had always dreamed of becoming a professional soccer player, but I never thought that I was gonna not go to college,” the now FC Cincinnati forward said to PhiladelphiaUnion.com.
McLaughlin thought that he would take a more well-trodden path to MLS via the SuperDraft. In fact when first approached by the Union about signing a contract, he declined in favor of starting school at Colgate University.
“I remember after I played in either the Everton or Real Madrid game the coaches talked to me and they told me they wanted to sign me before I even went to Colgate.”
While initially he wanted to honor his commitment to Colgate, turning the Union and his professional soccer dreams down for a second year in a row proved too difficult. Oh yeah, and how about those games against Everton and Real Madrid?
“They were both nuts. I mean I went from playing high school soccer and in the academy to playing against some of my idols like Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaká.”
For any young soccer player, going up against players such as Ronaldo, Kaká, or Leighton Baines seems like a dream. But for Jimmy McLaughlin, that experience gave him a taste of what professional soccer was all about and fueled his desire to keep pushing forward.
“Leighton Baines, a world class left back, is coming at me super hard and I remember just kind of tapping it around him and getting around this world class player. For the first time in my career, my life, I hear the entire stadium really cheer and really roar and actually experience that energy first-hand.”
“I was marking Ronaldo and I remember just looking at him and it felt surreal, like I play FIFA with this guy every day.”
While there were no stars quite as bright Cristiano Ronaldo on those early Union teams, McLaughlin credits a veteran locker room filled with big characters like Danny Califf and Brian Carroll with helping him navigate the early years of his career. According to Jimmy, learning the right training habits, mentality, and perseverance from Union veterans helped him build a pro career about to stretch into its 9th season when MLS finally gets underway in 2020.
“There were so many strong, older, big personality guys in the locker room… I was lucky to have them.”
Now linking up with former Union maestro Haris Medunjanin in the FC Cincinnati midfield, McLaughlin will look to help establish the Ohio club as one that truly belongs in MLS. Though however long his career stretches and whatever stops are along the way, Jimmy McLaughlin will never forget his Philadelphia roots.
