TAMPA, Fla. – When he set out on his professional journey 20 years ago, then as the Vice President of Operations for the Richmond Kickers, Curt Johnson had ideas as to what he wanted his path in professional soccer to look like.

Now, as the President and General Manager of North Carolina FC, the journey is one that has continued to fire Johnson’s passion for the game as the club makes its arrival in the USL for the 2018 season.

“That’s what gets me up, that we still have so much growth potential,” Johnson said at the recent USL Winter Summit. “I think of Lamar Hunt and my seven years with him, and he was so passionate about growing the clubs, growing Major League Soccer and growing the sport, and that really got him up, building a business, building a club, and in that regard, I’m similar.

“I thoroughly enjoy the progress we’ve made, I even enjoy the challenges, but I think we’re just scratching the surface of what we can do with the sport in North Carolina.”

Johnson’s path as a soccer executive came in part due to a landscape that when his playing career ended looked very different than it does now.

“I was fortunate that there wasn’t much pro soccer in the early ‘90s when I finished playing, and that probably saved me from chasing a possibly unlikely professional career for many years,” said Johnson. “The positive of not being able to pursue a pro playing career outdoors in this country at that point is the fact that I was able to get into some key soccer business opportunities at a very young age.”

That brought Johnson to Richmond, where the already-established club was looking to grow. Johnson worked alongside the likes of current Kickers Head Coach and Technical Director Leigh Cowlishaw, then a player for the team, to add new facets to the club which helped build the long-term stability the Kickers have been celebrating in their 25th anniversary this year.

“It was interesting times,” said Cowlishaw. “A lot of new staff came on in ‘97, great opportunities to work with a new team. I at the time was playing, but was also responsible for growing the camp program, so most of my time with Curt at that moment was trying to grow the grassroots part of the club. It was one of the major themes for us as a community, and it was actually the inception of the Richmond Kickers youth soccer club in those early days. There were definitely some strong foundations laid for the future when Curt was involved.”

“We were a close-knit group, it was a small staff and we were just finding our way,” added Johnson. “We were trying to establish a professional business, and in those early days most of us were very inexperienced and there was a lot of trial and error, but a lot of hard work and a lot of fun work – most of it – in building a club culture, a mentality, and obviously they’ve done great things with their model over the last 17 years since I’ve been gone.”

After three years in Richmond, Johnson headed to become General Manager for the then-Kansas City Wizards in Major League Soccer, where he helped engineer a major turnaround as the club claimed its first MLS Cup in 2000. Working for legendary owner Lamar Hunt, Johnson boosted the club on and off the field, raising the Wizards’ season-ticket base before aiding the club’s sale to its current ownership group, OnGoal.

“To go work for Lamar Hunt for seven years in my late 20s and early 30s, those are experiences that not many people get,” said Johnson. “It was a young sport, there weren’t many people with experience, so I was very lucky in those positions, and Lamar was very patient with me, and I was a sponge, I learned a lot.”

The lessons learned in Richmond and Kansas City have paid off majorly for North Carolina FC, where Johnson arrived as President in 2011. From putting a successful side on the field to working to secure the club’s future with the addition of Stephen Malik as NCFC’s new owner, and the addition of an NWSL club in the Carolina Courage, Johnson is now working to build the club’s overall structure with the help of the strong existing framework that exists in the Triangle area of the state through the work of youth organizations including CASL and Triangle FC.

“I think it’s what we all want from soccer, connectivity in the community,” said Johnson. “Most of these youth soccer clubs started in the ‘70s, if not before, and so when the professional team expanded into these markets there was a natural period of time of questioning, ‘how are we going to work together? Can we work together, pro and youth? What’s the correct model?’

“Obviously there are people making their livings doing it, so it’s taken time in each market, Richmond was really one of the first to figure it out, but I think it’s very positive that more and more in the marketplaces around the United States that you see the pro club work with the youth club.”

With the addition of the Courage prior to last season, and the establishment of North Carolina FC Youth in cooperation with CASL and TFC, the club now has a framework in place to build around. While no small task for the club’s leadership, having Malik’s backing to undertake such an endeavor has been a boon for Johnson.

“He’s fantastic,” said Johnson. “He’s got a passion for the game, he’s got a passion for the business of soccer, he has been an incredible asset for soccer in North Carolina. He has helped us create this vision, and as well all know, without ownership support you can have all the ideas you want and all the good intentions, but he has both. He has the vision and the resources, and he has been instrumental in our recent growth.”

Teamed with Johnson’s experience, the club’s neighbors around the Southeast in the USL are looking forward to what NCFC will bring in the years to come.

“If you look at his career, he’s been doing this longer than any of us. He’s one of a very select few,” said Charleston Battery President Andrew Bell. “The new ownership team that he’s brought in has raised the level there at that club, and I think he’s done a very, very good job. It’s great to have them in the league, and to have his experience in the league.”

Johnson himself is looking forward to returning to Richmond, along with hopefully a large contingent of fans, when NCFC gets to take on the Kickers next year.

“They’ve done so well, not only their longevity but how much they’ve accomplished and what the Kickers have meant to soccer in Virginia and soccer throughout the United States,” Johnson said of his former club. “I know they believe the same [as us] that they’re just starting to reach some of the goals that they want, with so much more ahead of them and so many more opportunities. I’m looking forward to getting back there, renewing that rivalry, especially for the fans to have a game a couple of hours away, their fans will be able to travel down, that’s what soccer should be.”

As the new year arrives, there’s plenty to look forward to for Johnson as NCFC enters an exciting new era.

“I’m just very excited about the people that we have involved with North Carolina Football Club, all the way from the youth to the men’s and women’s pro teams,” said Johnson. “I’m excited about the energy around our fan groups and our support. The culture that we’ve got now, the interaction between youth and North Carolina FC and the Courage players, we have a really unique opportunity to just continue to build. I think that’s the biggest thing I’m excited about, the building process and the growth of the club.”