The growth of the Premier League in the United States has been demonstrated by the success of the Premier League Summer Series, where hundreds of thousands of fans are watching six Premier League teams in action on the East Coast.
See: Summer Series: What we learned from the opening round
But did you know that a Premier League team were one of the pioneers for the establishment of football (or “soccer”) Stateside?
Back in the 1960s, soccer was largely unknown in the US.
After the 1966 FIFA World Cup was broadcast on satellite to the US, some people decided to see if they could grow the game and started a league.
“People will look back and say what was the history of soccer in this country, and people will have to go back to 1967 and say this is where it all began,” says sports executive Alan Rothenberg, who was part of the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 1970s and also oversaw the formation of Major League Soccer (MLS).
Twelve teams from around the world were invited to join the United Soccer Association’s league for that summer, including Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Newly promoted to the English first division, Wolves’ players were there to represent the Los Angeles Wolves. Their domestic success continued Stateside as they beat Western Division rivals, including Sunderland, to reach the President's Cup final against the Washington Whips (represented by Aberdeen).
Their 6-5 win after extra-time helped to launch the beautiful game to a new audience - and now the story of those Wolves players will be told in a new video the club will release shortly.
“This documentary is not just about the football, it’s about the human stories and the people who did something which changed their lives in a small or big way,” Owen Blackhurst, editorial director of MUNDIAL, tells the the club's official website.
MUNDIAL has joined forces with Wolves’ internal production house to produce the video “1967: When LA Wolves Conquered the USA”, which will incorporate never-before-seen footage and interviews with Rothenberg, along with the players who made the trip.
“Some of these players were kids who had never left their homes before," says Blackhurst. "They were growing up in fairly industrial places, so to be transported from 1960s Wolverhampton to '60s LA must have been mind-blowing. They described it as like being on the moon.
“There is so much good to tell as it gave people such an amazing time in their lives and informed what they did for the rest of their careers.
“It’s almost 60 years on and when you speak to those involved, they light up and remember a lot of it like it was yesterday, which tells you why this story is so special and why we wanted to tell it.”
The full documentary will be released in September, but fans can get more details on the story now at la.wolves.co.uk, a microsite that celebrates this moment in the club’s history.
