Kevin Payne, a National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee who oversaw D.C. United’s rise into an early MLS dynasty as the club’s founding president and general manager, died Sunday of a long-term lung illness. He was 69.
“It saddens me greatly to let you know that Kevin Payne passed away this morning,” Sunil Gulati, who served as president of the U.S. Soccer Federation from 2006 to 2018, told The Washington Post in a statement. “He was surrounded by his family and at peace after a long and difficult battle. We will all miss him terribly."
“He was a good friend,” Gulati said, “and an absolutely critical part of the sport’s growth over the last 30-plus years.” The team was led from its inception by former University of Virginia coach Bruce Arena — who would go on to steer the U.S. men’s national team to the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals — and featured the likes of Bolivian stars Marco Etcheverry and Jaime Moreno and U.S. national team stalwarts Eddie Pope and John Harkes. United ruled over the region as well, beating Mexico’s Toluca for the 1998 Concacaf Champions Cup — still one of just three continental titles won by MLS teams.
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