Wolves have teamed up with leading football media company Footballco and their football magazine MUNDIAL, who are also principal partners of Wolves Academy, to tell the tale behind the club’s involvement in kickstarting the popularity of ‘soccer’ and help the sport grow in the States.
Wolves Radio’s Laurence Scott and video manager Yannie Makarounas – director and producer of Wolves’ critically acclaimed documentary Raul Jimenez: Code Red – are currently out in LA, working alongside MUNDIAL’s editorial director Owen Blackhurst, Footballco’s Max Agostini and cinematographer Matt Sellers to bring the story of Wolves’ 1967 title to life.
Several gold and black players from the 1966/67 Division Two promotion winning side, including Phil Parkes, Mike Bailey, Derek Dougan, Gerry Taylor and Terry Wharton, headed to the ‘City of Angels’ to represent Los Angeles Wolves in the inaugural season of the United Soccer Association.
With the league not having clubs with players of their own, it opted to import whole teams from Europe and South America for their first season, giving them time to build their own squads for the following campaign, with Wolves chosen to represent LA.
Having won a Western Division consisting of clubs such as San Francisco Golden Gate Gales (ADO Den Haag), Vancouver Royal Canadians (Sunderland) and Houston Stars (Bangu AC), Wolves progressed to the championship match against Washington Whips (Aberdeen) in the LA Coliseum and won the title after a 6-5 added time victory.
Hosted by Scott, Wolves Radio’s ‘Filming in Los Angeles’ special takes listeners along with the documentary crew during a day of filming as they visit locations across the city – including the Sunset Strip, Griffith Observatory and Lafayette Park – where the Wolves players spent their time in LA more than five decades ago.
Speaking about why MUNDIAL wanted to get involved in the project, Blackhurst told Wolves Radio: “Firstly, it hasn’t been told, or hasn’t been told properly, which is always important, and secondly, it’s such a good one.
“Some of these kids had never left their homes before and they were growing up in fairly industrial places, so to be transported from 60s Wolverhampton to 60s LA must have been mind-blowing.
“To go to places like Sunset [Boulevard] and bump into Jimi Hendrix outside a club, stuff like that now is commonplace and you see celebrities all the time, but then, it must have been like going to the moon.
“That feeling of discovery for fairly normal guys then – when the disparity between footballers and the fans that watch the game wasn’t as big – there is so much good to tell.”
Filming in Los Angeles is available to listen to on demand via the Wolves App, where you will also find a wealth of exclusive gold and black content.
Take a listen to the latest Wolves Radio special below…
