United Soccer Association 1967
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Eastern Division | |||||||
| Washington Whips | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 11 | 15 |
| Cleveland Stokers | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 19 | 13 | 14 |
| Toronto City | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 23 | 17 | 13 |
| Detroit Cougars | 12 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 18 | 12 |
| New York Skyliners | 12 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 15 | 17 | 10 |
| Boston Rovers | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 26 | 7 |
| Western Division | |||||||
| Los Angeles Wolves | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 21 | 14 | 15 |
| San Francisco Gales | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 25 | 19 | 13 |
| Chicago Mustangs | 12 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 20 | 14 | 13 |
| Houston Stars | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 19 | 18 | 12 |
| Vancouver Royal Canadians | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 28 | 11 |
| Dallas Tornado | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 23 | 9 |
| Date | Home Team | Away Team | ||
| Championship | ||||
| 10.07.1967 | Los Angeles Wolves | 6 | Washington Whips | 5 sdet |
Note: 2 Pts Win, 1 Pt Draw, 0 Pts Loss; Teams were actually teams from Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, Italy, Netherlands and Uruguay representing US cities on a Summer Schedule in between their normal Winter Schedules back home. See Below for Teams.
Note 2: After the season Toronto City and New York Skyliners folded, and San Francisco Gales were absorbed by Vancouver Royal Canadians., and the League merged with the NPSL to form the North American Soccer League.
USA Teams
| USA Team | European/South American Team |
| Boston Rovers | Shamrock Rovers (Dublin, Ireland) |
| Chicago Mustangs | Cagliari (Italy) |
| Cleveland Stokers | Stoke City (England) |
| Dallas Tornado | Dundee United (Scotland) |
| Detroit Cougars | Glentoran (Northern Ireland) |
| Houston Stars | Bangu (Brazil) |
| Los Angeles Wolves | Wolverhampton Wanderers (England) |
| New York Skyliners | Cerro (Montevideo, Uruguay) |
| San Francisco Gales | AD) (Den Haag, Netherlands) |
| Toronto City | Hibernian (Edinburgh, Scotland) |
| Vancouver Royal Canadians | Sunderland (England) |
| Washington Whips | Aberdeen (Scotland) |
Report
There were two professional soccer leagues in North America in 1967, both attempting at the same time to bring Pro Soccer to USA & Canada. The United Soccer Association was the FIFA-sponsored league and featured teams from Europe and South America guesting as North American teams over a Summer Schedule in between their normal Winter schedules. It included Shamrock Rovers (playing as Boston Rovers) and Glentoran (playing as Detroit Cougars). The other league was the National Professional Soccer League, and after the season the two leagues merged in 1968 to form the North American Soccer League which lasted until 1984.
Among the Rovers players over in Boston were Liam Tuohy, Frank O’Neill, Paddy Mulligan, Davy Pugh ad Tommy Kelly.
The side also included Carlos Metidieri, A Brazilian-born USA International, as gueat player, and his younger brother, Gilson.
After the merger with the NPSL, the Boston Rovers side became the Boston Beacons, a team in its own right, but kept the link with Shamrock Rovers. Paddy Mulligan was loaned out to the Beacons side in 1968 by Shamrock Rovers, but most of the team returned, and the side lost its mainly Irish make-up. [Reference: 4]
Boston Rovers Roster 1967
| No. | Name | Pos | P | G | A | Pts | Born/Citizen |
| 1 | Pat Dunne | G | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ireland |
| 1 | Mick Smyth | G | Ireland | ||||
| 1 | John Brookes | M | Ireland | ||||
| 2,5 | Ronnie Nolan | M | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Ireland |
| 2 | John Keogh | D | Ireland | ||||
| 3 | Patrick Courtney | D | Ireland | ||||
| 4 | John Fullam | D | Ireland | ||||
| 4,6 | Mike Kearin | M/D | Ireland | ||||
| 5 | David Pugh | M | 14 | 0 | Ireland | ||
| 5,6 | Patrick Mulligan | M | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | Ireland |
| 6 | Sean Core | D | Ireland | ||||
| 4,6,12 | Doug Wood | M | Scotland | ||||
| 7,9 | Frank O’Neill | F | 12 | 3 | 4 | 10 | Ireland |
| 7,11 | Tommy Kinsella | M | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | Ireland |
| 8 | Billy Dixon | F | 11 | 0 | Ireland | ||
| 9 | Bobby Gilbert | F | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Ireland |
| 9 | Eric Barber | F | Ireland | ||||
| 8,10 | Michael Leech | F | 5 | 2 | 0 | 4 | Ireland |
| 10,11 | Liam Tuohy | F | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | Ireland |
| 11 | Carlos Matidieri | F | Brazil | ||||
| 12 | Alexander Wood | M | |||||
| Orest Banach | G | Germany/USA | |||||
| Jorge Benitez | F | Peru | |||||
| Tommy Farrell | Ireland | ||||||
| Gilson Metidieri | F | Brazil |
Detroit Cougars [Glentoran FC] Roster 1967
| No. | Name | Pos. | P | G | A | Pts | Born/Citizen |
| 1 | John Kennedy | G | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Northern Ireland |
| 1 | Sammy Kydd | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ireland |
| 2 | Harry Chreighton | D | 0 | Northern Ireland | |||
| 3 | Billy McKeag | D | 3 | Northern Ireland | |||
| 4 | Roy Borne | D | Northern Ireland | ||||
| 10 | Tommy Jackson | M | 0 | Northern Ireland | |||
| 11 | Billy McCullough | D | 0 | Northern Ireland | |||
| 12 | Walter Bruce | M | 0 | Northern Ireland | |||
| 14 | Arthur Stewart | M | 12 | 2 | 0 | 4 | Northern Ireland |
| 15 | Billy Sinclair | M | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Scotland |
| 20 | Trevor Thompson | D | 4 | 3 | 0 | 6 | Northern Ireland |
| 21 | Jim Weatherup | F | 9 | 2 | 1 | 5 | Northern Ireland |
| 22 | John Colrain | F | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | Scotland |
| 23 | Alan McNeill | M | Northern Ireland | ||||
| 24 | Eric Ross | F | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Northern Ireland |
| 25 | Danny Trainor | F | 8 | 2 | 2 | 6 | Northern Ireland |
| 30 | Jimmy Johnston | M | Northern Ireland | ||||
| 31 | Sammy Lunn | Northern Ireland | |||||
| 32 | Tommy Morrow | F | 8 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Northern Ireland |
| 33 | Maurice Wright | Northern Ireland | |||||
| Albert Finaly | G | Northern Ireland |
Refernces
Bibliography
[1] Jose, Colin “The Complete Record of the North American Soccer League”.
[2] Litterer, David A. & RSSSF (1995/2018) North American Soccer League [Internet] Available from: http://www.rsssf.com/usadave/nasl.html[Accessed 7 February 2020]
[3] Litterer, David A. & RSSSF (1995/2018) North American Soccer League 1967 [Internet] Available from: http://www.rsssf.com/usadave/nasl67.html [Accessed 7 February 2020]
[4] The Wild Geese (2012) Boston Rovers [Internet] Available from: http://irishfootballersineurope.blogspot.com/2012/09/boston-rovers.html [Accessed 7 February 2020]
[5] The Wild Geese (2011) Eric Barber [Internet] Available from: http://irishfootballersineurope.blogspot.com/2011/12/eric-barber.html [Accessed 7 February 2020]
[6] NASL Jerseys (2020) Joe Haverty [Internet] Available from: http://www.nasljerseys.com/Players/H/Haverty.Joe.htm [Accessed 7 February 2020]
[7] NASL Jerseys (2020) Boston Rovers [Shamrock Rovers] Roster 1967 [Internet] Available from: http://www.nasljerseys.com/Rosters/Rovers_Rosters.htm [Accessed 7 February 2020]
[8] NASL Jerseys (2020) Detroit Cougars [Glentoran] Roster 1967 [Internet] Available from: http://www.nasljerseys.com/Rosters/Cougars_Rosters.htm [Accessed 7 February 2020]
[9] NASL Jerseys (2020) Chicago Spurs Roster 1967 [Internet] Available from: http://www.nasljerseys.com/Rosters/Spurs_Rosters.htm [Accessed 7 February 2020]
Images
[10] The Wild Geese (2020) Boston Rovers Team Photo 1967 [Internet] Available from: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sSApbL9Wwx8/UEis7XjGZTI/AAAAAAAAAiM/68xISgaPi68/s320/c88e_1.jpg [Accessed 7 February 2020]
[11] The Wild Geese (2020) Detroit Cougars Team Photo 1967 [Internet] Available from: http://www.nasljerseys.com/images/Cougars/Cougars%2067%20Road%20Team_small.JPG [Accessed 7 February 2020]
[12] Wikiwand (2020) United Soccer Association 1967 [Internet] Available from: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/16/United_Soccer_Association_1967_logo.gif [Accessed 7 February 2020]
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Jason Caldwell & Paul Foley.
About this document
Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the
Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive
Last Updated: 1 September 2020
(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2020
You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.