Downingtown’s Zack Steffen opens up about why he returned to MLS

As he began the fourth year of his second stint in Europe, Zack Steffen decided that he’d had enough of the instability that defined his time abroad.

The goalkeeper from Downingtown still hadn’t made it with Manchester City, the English powerhouse that paid $7 million to buy him from the Columbus Crew in 2019. Though Steffen won two Premier League titles and a League Cup with City, he played just 21 games for the club, mostly in domestic cups. His actual playing time overseas came during loans to the German Bundesliga’s Fortuna Düsseldorf and the English second division’s Middlesbrough.

Steffen dealt with a series of brutal injuries along the way, the latest being a major knee issue that’s had him out of action since May. He also became a father, welcoming a daughter in October.

» READ MORE: Downingtown’s Zack Steffen returns to MLS, joining the Colorado Rapids

So it was time to return, he decided. When the Colorado Rapids offered him a cornerstone place with a team under new management, he said yes.

“Just to be back in the States, closer to family, closer to friends, have them part of my career, just gives me a lot of energy and passion and motivation to come back here,” Steffen said at a news conference Monday.

“And now I’m 28, getting up there a little bit, so I want some stability. ... And to win some games, lift some trophies, and just bring this club to a winning culture, a winning mentality. And I think we can do that.”

Steffen said he liked the Rapids’ sales pitch, especially from goalkeeper coach Chris Sharpe and new manager Chris Armas.

“The situation, the city, the people, the club, the new coaches, and then Chris Sharpe,” Steffen said. The conversations that we’ve had really excited me and gave me motivation, gave me confidence that we’re all on the same page on where we want to go individually and then collectively.”

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He made it clear that being a new father matters, too, not surprising for a player who has long been close with his family.

“Fatherhood is amazing,” he said. “Wanting to be closer to family and be part of her life as well, and her journey. Yeah, man, fatherhood is the best thing ever.”

Steffen found some familiar faces when he arrived in Denver, especially veteran Rapids right back Keegan Rosenberry. The Ronks, Pa., native played with Steffen on Union-run youth teams in the club’s early years, before the academy was fully built out.

Rosenberry played his first three years as a pro with the Union. He could have been teammates with Steffen in MLS back then, had the Union signed Steffen to a homegrown player contract while he was at the University of Maryland. But when Germany’s Freiburg offered Steffen his first chance to go to Europe, he took it, with the Union unable to match the money involved. (Whether they tried to has been lost to history.)

Nine years later, they will line up together again.

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“We’ve always gotten along really well, kind of stayed in touch through all the moves in our career,” Rosenberry said. “There’s always a little bit more of a close relationship with defenders and goalkeepers, so I’m hoping we can build each other up and help each other succeed.”

Armas might be the happiest of anyone outside the Steffen family. His hiring wasn’t entirely well-received, because previous jobs were underwhelming spells with the New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC, and disastrously short times as an assistant at England’s Manchester United and Leeds United. (His bosses there were close friends, Red Bull global veteran Ralf Rangnick in Manchester and American Jesse Marsch in Leeds.)

Armas has now started his Rapids tenure with the arrivals of Steffen and Djordje Mihailovic, a 25-year-old playmaker who not long ago was a U.S. national team prospect. They reportedly will soon add left back Sam Vines, a former Rapids player who’s been at Belgium’s Royal Antwerp for 2½ years.

That’s a good helping of talent and stability, with Steffen at the root of it all in net.

“He’s been part of major success, big experiences ... but most importantly has been part of good, strong cultures, winning cultures,” Armas said. “We expect him to be one of the leaders, one of the driving forces behind our push, and we’re delighted to have Zack.”

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