Until March 5, 2017, no player had climbed through the ranks of the Philadelphia Union Academy, to Bethlehem Steel FC, and made the final step to the Union first team. Just a day before the team's season opener in Vancouver, Derrick Jones was told he'd be the first.
"I didn't know until we went to Vancouver," Jones said. "The day before the game, they put me with the Starting XI. I was kind of confused."
It didn't take Jones long to make an impact on the game. "I thought he was the best player on the field, for both teams," Head Coach Jim Curtin said of Jones' performance.