The National Soccer Hall of Fame announced that the four members of its 2024 class are Tim Howard, Francisco Marcos, Josh McKinney and Tisha Venturini-Hoch.
They will be inducted at a ceremony May 4, 2024 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.
Howard and McKinney were elected from the Player Ballot. Marcos was elected from the Builder Ballot, and Venturini-Hoch was elected from the Veteran Ballot. Howard was elected in his first year of eligibility, and McKinney is the first member of the Extended National Teams to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
Tim Howard
A goalkeeper who starred in both the U.S. National Team and the English Premier League for nearly two decades, Howard played 121 full internationals for the United States between 2002 and 2017, including 39 World Cup qualifiers in nine different years and eight games at the World Cup in 2010 and 2014. After playing for the MetroStars in Major League Soccer from 1998 to 2003, he played 13 seasons in the English Premier League, three for Manchester United and 10 for Everton. He returned to MLS in 2016 and played with the Colorado Rapids until 2019, then retired after playing with Memphis 901 FC in the 2020 USL season.
NBC Sports studio host Rebecca Lowe surprised Howard with the news of his election during the broadcast of USA Network’s pregame coverage of the English Premier League match between Everton and Nottingham Forest.
Josh McKinney
McKinney, who was born with cerebral palsy, was a captain of the U.S. National 7-a-side Paralympic Team (now the U.S. Men’s CP National Team). He retired after 124 caps and 81 goals over 19 years, including appearances at three Paralympics (1996, 2004 and 2012). He captained the team 72 times, and as a 17-year-old in 1996, he scored a team-high five goals to lead the U.S. to a best-ever fourth-place finish at the Paralympic Games in Atlanta.
Chris Ahrens, a former teammate of McKinney’s with the U.S. team, surprised McKinney with the news of his election during the NCFC Youth Showcase Series at WRAL Soccer Center in Raleigh, N.C., where McKinney is a coach in the NCFC Youth program.
Tisha Venturini-Hoch
A midfielder who played in two World Cups for the United States, Venturini-Hoch played 134 full internationals between 1992 and 2000. A member of the U.S. team that won the World Cup in 1999, she played in two games — including the final — and scored twice. She also played all six games at the 1995 World Cup and all five games at the 1996 Olympic Games. She played three seasons in the Women’s United Soccer Association, winning one title, as well as one season each in the W-League and the Women’s Premier Soccer League.
Hall of Famer Mia Hamm (2007), who played with Venturini-Hoch at the University of North Carolina and with the U.S. team, announced Venturini-Hoch’s election on the field at the Newport Harbor High School girls’ match in Newport Beach, Calif. Venturini-Hoch is an assistant coach at Newport Harbor.
Francisco Marcos
Marcos was the longtime leader of the United Soccer League, the umbrella organization of lower-division soccer in the U.S. In 1987, after serving as an executive for several North American Soccer League teams, Marcos launched the Southwest Indoor Soccer League, which evolved into the USL over the next two decades. He also has been commissioner of the A-League and a vice president of the U.S. Soccer Federation. He won the USSF’s Werner Fricker Builder Award in 2007.
Hall of Famer Al Miller (1995), who coached Marcos at Hartwick College, broke the news of his election during a video conference call set up by officials at the school.
