Documentary reveals how Wolverhampton Wanderers kickstarted the U.S. Soccer boom - seven years before Pele and nearly 30 years before MLS

A new documentary will chart the untold story of how Wolverhampton Wanderers helped kickstart the U.S. soccer boom in 1967.

The film, 1967: When Wolves Conquered the USA, comes courtesy of Wolves Studios and Footballco-owned publisher MUNDIAL. It focuses on the summer of 1967 and Los Angeles Wolves’ United Soccer Association league title through never-before-seen footage, transporting supporters back to the scene of the championship glory.

The documentary’s trailer was released on July 14 to mark the 56-year anniversary of the United Soccer Association’s championship final at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Seven years before Pele joined New York Cosmos and almost 30 years before first MLS' season, the tournament saw 12 clubs from around the world invited to spread the football gospel stateside – including Wolves.

Involving several players from Wanderers' 1966-67 squad, LA Wolves’ victory in the first major U.S. soccer league is seen by many as the launchpad of the sport becoming known and loved across the pond.

Sports executive Alan Rothenberg explained: “The 1966 World Cup was carried by satellite into the United States, and so a bunch of sportsmen decided to start 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.”

Kevin Baxter, LA Times sportswriter, said: “The idea of professional soccer in the United States, no one had ever really thought about that, not at that level. The US didn't qualify for World Cup between 1950 and 1990, so soccer was dead – and then the Wolves come along.

“There isn’t that tradition here that maybe there is in England or Europe where teams are a hundred years old. Everything has to be