Playing for Uncle Sam: The Brits' Story of the North American Soccer League

Description

A coach transported to the field in a hearse as he played dead. An English manager taken at gunpoint to an Argentinian jail after trying to sign that country's World Cup captain. The hero of 1966 who talked his team out of going on strike on the eve of a title decider. All are part of the British professionals' story of life in the North American Soccer League in the 1970s and early 1980s, when everyone - from star turn to unsung journeyman - had the chance to play alongside Pele, Cruyff, Beckenbauer and Eusebio in the greatest galaxy of world stars ever assembled in one league. To mark the 20th anniversary of the NASL's final season in 1984, "Playing For Uncle Sam" recalls the British players and coaches who were part of an organization that changed the face of football with its shoot-outs, new offside rule and wacky marketing methods. It began with the likes of Stoke and Wolverhampton Wanderers spending a bizarre summer posing as the Cleveland Stokers and Los Angeles Wolves in 1967. And it reached its peak in the late 1970s when the NASL, run by a former Welsh international, drew crowds of 70,000 and featured such famous names as Banks, Moore, Hurst and Ball. Rodney Marsh pitched his tent in America by declaring famously that English football had become a grey game, while George Best used the NASL as an escape from the fishbowl of his life in Britain. Typically, the pair delighted and exasperated teammates and coaches in equal measure. Through interviews with many of the British contingent who accepted the offer of the Yankee dollar, "Playing For Uncle Sam" recalls one of the most fascinating episodes in football history: the remarkable rise and chaotic collapse of the NASL.

David Tossell has more than 20 years experience in sports journalism and is currently the head of European Public Relations for the National Football League (NFL). His previous publications include SEVENTY-ONE GUNS and THE AMERICAN MATCH. He lives in High Wycombe.