Jean Harbor 1992, 1993

Jean Harbor was born September 19th, 1965 in Lagos, Nigeria. While born and raised in Nigeria, he attended college at Alabama A&M in the United States. He majored in chemistry and was a forward on the men’s soccer team from 1983 to 1986. He was a three time second and third team All American and held the school’s career scoring record when he graduated.

Before coming to the U.S., Jean had spent time with two Nigerian teams, Nepa F.C. and Enugu Rangers. However, he does not appear to have played professionally for two years after graduating from Alabama A&M. One article mentions that he worked in a Maryland laboratory for several years after leaving Alabama. He apparently even continued to work at the facility after he began his professional playing career.

In June 1988, the Washington Diplomats of the new ASL signed him. Diplomats coach, Julio Pinon, spotted him when Jean was playing in the Embassy Cup Tournament in Washington, D.C.. The Diplomats had been having difficulty scoring up to that point in the season, but he made an immediate positive impact. The team went on to win the ASL championship. Jean continued his high scoring ways in the 1989 season, but was suspended by the league after striking Pedro Magallanes in the face during a game with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. The suspension ran for a month and helped limit him to seven goals that season.

In 1990, he moved to the Maryland Bays. By this time the ASL had merged with the Western Soccer League to form the American Professional Soccer League. Jean would spend two seasons with the Bays. In 1990, he scored eight goals as the Bays took the league championship in a 2-1 victory over the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks. In 1991, he led the league in scoring with seventeen goals and eleven assists in twenty games as the Bays fell to the Albany Capitals in the semi-finals. Jean took first team All APSL and league MVP honors. The team folded at the end of the season. With the collapse of the Bays, he moved indoors in the fall of 1991 with the Baltimore Blast. However, Jean once again saw his team fold, this time along with the entire league, at the end of the season.

In 1992, he returned to the APSL, this time with the Rowdies. By this time, the league was struggling and had only five teams remaining. However, he continued his high scoring ways and took the scoring title with thirteen goals and four assists in fifteen games, earning first team All Star honors. The Rowdies also went to the championship game, only to fall to the Colorado Foxes. Jean saw a significant drop in his point production in 1993 as he scored only five goals, adding seven assists, in fourteen games. The Rowdies saw more playoff disappointment as they fell to the Foxes again, this time in the semifinals. At the end of the season, he again saw his team fold.

In 1994, he then moved to the Montreal Impact. He gained a measure of revenge on the Colorado Foxes this season as the Impact defeated them in the title game; he scored the lone goal in the Impact’s 1-0 victory.

In March 1995, he signed with the indoor Buffalo Blizzard of the National Professional Soccer League. The Blizzard were making a final push for the playoffs. While the Blizzard made the playoffs, they fell to the Cleveland Crunch in the first round. Jean played seven regular season games, scoring two goals, then another three games in the playoffs for the Blizzard.

In April 1995, the MLS signed Jean. However, when the league delayed its first season by a year, the league loaned him to the Seattle SeaDogs of the Continental Indoor Soccer League. In twenty-six games, he scored forty goals.

In February 1996, MLS held its first draft. The Colorado Rapids selected Jean with the second pick of the draft. In that first season, he led the team in scoring with eleven goals in twenty-nine games, but the Rapids finished at the bottom of the table and failed to make the playoffs. He then injured his knee in the 1997 pre-season, requiring surgery. The Rapids released him in June 1997.

He returned to the Seattle SeaDogs where he was MVP of the All Star game. That season he also helped lead Seattle to the final CISL Championship defeating the Houston Hotshots 2 games to 0. Once again, Jean saw a team and a league fold at the end of the season.

In October 1997, he moved to the Florida ThunderCats of the NPSL as the team began preparations for its first, and ultimately, it’s only season. The ThunderCats had significant financial problems during the 1998-1999 season and sold his contract to the Philadelphia KiXX just prior to the 1999 playoffs. Jean’s time in Philadelphia included only the end of the 1998-1999 season and the playoffs.
In 1992, Jean Harbor became a U.S. citizen. U.S. coach Bora Milutinović quickly called him up for an October 9th match with Canada. Jean went on to earn fourteen caps while Milutinovic was coach, but he was unable to score. Milutinovich dropped him from the national team in June 1993, but he earned one more cap under Steve Sampson on October 16th, 1996. The regular national team players had gone on strike and USSF was forced to field an ad hoc player line up for a game against Peru.

In 2004, Jean worked for NASA.

If Jean should ever come across this, could you please email me.