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With the support of his hometown and his parents, Aron John is breaking through for Charlotte FC
Midfielder Aron John made his MLS debut for Charlotte FC in extra time March 7 against Austin FC. (Photo courtesy of Charlotte FC)
The night Aron John made his Major League Soccer debut with his hometown Charlotte FC against Austin FC, he celebrated by going home and going to bed.
John, 19, lives in Matthews, where he grew up, with his parents and younger brother. He’s taking college classes online at Central Piedmont. He’s playing for the MLS Next Pro feeder team, Crown Legacy, and moonlighting off the bench for Charlotte FC. In other words, John is on a schedule. And on nights when he doesn’t have games, he likes to turn the lights out around 10 p.m., his parents said.
“Aron’s a bedtime guy,” his mother, Holly John, said.
There’s another Charlotte FC midfielder from the area who keeps a strict bedtime, too — Brandt Bronico, the highly motivated midfielder who has played a big role in the first five years of the franchise. Not to get ahead of ourselves, but perhaps the next five years are going to be well in hand, too?
Before introducing himself to 35,611 at Bank of America Stadium on March 7, John was busy making a name for himself within Charlotte FC’s system. John, or “AJ” as teammates and coaches call him, won the franchise’s first Academy Player of the Year award in 2023 as the top player from their development teams. John had 12 goal contributions (6 goals and 6 assists) in 23 games for Charlotte’s U17 team. The following year, in 2024, John made the Best XI as one of the best players in MLS Next Pro, after leading Crown Legacy with 18 goal contributions (8 goals and 10 assists).
In the spring of 2025, he got his first U.S. Youth National team call-up and traveled to Spain, before a quadriceps injury interrupted his progress last season. But AJ was back on the radar this preseason, when Charlotte FC coach Dean Smith predicted in January he would get first-team minutes this season. Two months later, Smith put John on his bench for games against Austin and Miami. John immediately took a corner kick when entering against Austin and completed seven passes in a few minutes of extra time in the 3-1 win.
“He fully deserved his debut tonight,” captain Ashley Westwood said afterward. “The kid's got a bright future. … We think very highly of him as the first team lads, the way he trains, the way he performs.”
As John has risen the ranks, coaches have labeled him “coachable,” “versatile,” “humble.” Assistant general manager Bobby Belair had this to say when his Academy player of the year was announced: “AJ exemplifies everything one would want in a soccer player.”
John family from L to R: Jeremy, Aron, Elijah, Isaac, Holly. (Photo courtesy of Holly John)
John is the middle of three sons born to Holly and Jeremy John, both of whom played soccer at Houghton College, a Division III Christian university in New York state.
They moved to Charlotte and married after Jeremy signed with the Charlotte Eagles, a Christian-based professional team now in USL League Two. Jeremy played one season before transitioning into banking. He coached his oldest son, Elijah, in the Eagles’ youth program when he couldn’t help but give a toddling Aron a chance to join a drill.
“You could just see the excitement on his face,” Holly said. “He giggled as he ran around.”
At age 3, Aron used to dribble up and down the sidelines at the Morrison YMCA itching to get into his brother’s games. His parents chuckle at the memory of his first game, when Aron was afraid of the referee’s whistle, so he insisted on playing goalkeeper.
“He thought he was in trouble,” Holly said.
Not that he’s shown any fear since.
“He’s always had this fighting spirit, in a sense,” Jeremy said. “Not in a combative way, but just enjoying the challenge of competition.”
Aron was 6 or 7 when he started playing at the new Matthews location of Charlotte Soccer Academy. They didn’t have enough older players, so Aron got to join 9- and 10-year-olds for a tournament.
Ten years ago, Aron John at 9 years old playing for Charlotte Soccer Academy. (Photo courtesy of Holly John)
He was out on the field, playing with a smile on his face, his mother said. His enjoyment is what was most important to Aron’s parents, who pumped the brakes when others might have pushed.
They encouraged him to stay with the Matthews Charlotte Soccer Academy rather than moving to the main location, so he could stay with his group of friends. At age 11 and 12, before he started to mature physically, his father kept a realistic view of his future.
“I remember saying, with all our boys, ‘Maybe they could play Division III or NAIA soccer, that would be really neat,’” Jeremy said. “But I didn't see a higher athletic ceiling. That’s always been the question: At what level will he max out athletically? But he just keeps rising to the next level.”
Even after John signed with Charlotte’s academy, his dad has tried to ease the pressure on him.
“We have that conversation a lot,” Jeremy said. “I remember at one point saying, ‘I have no expectation that you become a professional, or that this has to work out.’ He had tears in his eyes. It’s hard. The pressure is there. They all want it so bad. They all put so much effort into it.”
In the summer of 2024, having finished his high school graduation requirements online, John was prepared to follow his brother Elijah to play at Liberty University. About a month before he was set to leave for Lynchburg, Va., Charlotte FC offered him his first professional contract. He took two weeks to decide.
“He took way longer than probably Bobby [Belair] expected to make the decision,” Jeremy said. “He was looking at what Elijah was doing in college and the experience he was having versus a completely different route of professional soccer and not going away from home. His younger brother, Isaac, was like, ‘What's the decision? Just take it.’ A lot of people said, ‘Just do it.’ But he really thought it out.”
It was a few minutes before 11 p.m., after the Austin FC game, when John met local media in the post-game interview room at Back of America Stadium. John used the word “grateful” throughout his interview. He said he was happy he stayed with Charlotte, a decision he’d prayed over.
“I just felt like I was meant to stay here,” he said. “Something was pulling me here, and I think that it was the right decision. I think this is the best way for me to develop. This is what I’ve wanted my whole life.”
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Together again: Agyemang returns from England and joins former Charlotte FC teammate Tim Ream for U.S. Men’s National team camp in Atlanta
Former Charlotte FC teammates Patrick Agyemang (left) and Tim Ream reunite for March camp with the U.S. Men’s National team. (Screenshot from Monday press conference.)
Striker Patrick Agyemang was reunited with former Charlotte FC teammate Tim Ream for this week’s U.S. Men’s national team camp in Atlanta. The U.S. plays exhibitions Saturday at 3:30 p.m. vs. Belgium and Tuesday at 7 p.m. vs. Portugal. The next time the U.S. plays after that will be May 31 at Bank of America Stadium in an exhibition against Senegal, five days after the World Cup roster is set.
The smiles in the photo from a USMNT press conference Monday came moments after Ream was asked to give his impressions on how Agyemang has done so far in the English Championship, where he’s scored 10 goals in 35 games for Derby County since his transfer from Charlotte.
“I put my arm around him earlier today and said, ‘So you actually learned to use your head over there?’” Ream said, smiling. Only three of Agyemang’s 17 goals with Charlotte were scored via header. Five of his 10 so far with Derby County have been headers.
Agyemang was asked if he keeps up with how Charlotte FC is doing. He said:
I try to watch as many games as I can. Sometimes the timing is when I'm trying to fall asleep. So it gets a little bit tricky. But yeah, especially when they're playing at home, it's just excitement. I see the boys enjoying the game. It's fun to see everyone gelling and playing. … It's nice to see that they're going in the right direction and winning games.
Asked if he missed Charlotte, Agyemang couldn’t bring himself to say no.
“Charlotte will always have a spot in my heart,” said Agyemang, which got a nudge from Ream, who added that Agyemang could have said no. “I’m honest.”
Up next: Bye
Charlotte FC is off for an international break this weekend before returning to action on April 4 against the Philadelphia Union. Charlotte is in the middle of playing five games in a row at Bank of America Stadium and coming off a 6-1 win over the New York Red Bulls. The six goals scored and five-goal margin were both club records for Charlotte FC.
Carroll Walton is a longtime baseball writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution now in her fifth season covering Charlotte FC. She would love to hear from you. E-mail her with questions, suggestions, story ideas and comments!