WHEN the old disco hit Go West hit the charts in the late Seventies, it could have been the theme tune for British footballers. It was the time of the great summer excursion to the North American Soccer League, where players were greeted by leggy cheerleaders, wacky marketing stunts and a game that sometimes bore little resemblance to that played at home. Not to mention some outrageous kits that rivalled those of the Village People themselves.

Over the course of 18 seasons, from 1967 to 1984, the NASL was home to hundreds of British players. For some, it was a paid vacation. For others, it was the chance to swap a handful of fans at the likes of Gay Meadow for 70,000 at Giants Stadium, or to forge a new life for their families in a brave new world.

By the mid to late Seventies, the NASL, having once been on the brink of extinction, was riding along on Pelé’s decision to come out of retirement to play for the New York Cosmos and serve as a tireless ambassador for soccer in America. Phil Woosnam, the former NASL Commissioner and Wales winger, said: “The feeling was that if it was good enough for Pelé it was good enough for anyone.”

British players pushed themselves to the front of the check-in, grabbing the chance to play with and against men such as Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff, Eusebio and Carlos Alberto while picking up a fat pay cheque and an all-expenses-paid luxury lifestyle.

Steve Earle, a striker who left Leicester City to join the Detroit Express, recalled: “My wages at Leicester were about £100 a week and I was on double that at Detroit. The club provided everything and I was able to rent out my house in Leicester to Ray Illingworth. Some were getting $35,000 to sign on. Alan Woollett wouldn’t go because he didn’t want to leave his dog. He went to Northampton and knew he’d made a mistake when they pulled up at a Wimpy and were given a £1 meal voucher.”

The Britons fell largely into three categories: those whose careers at home were coming to an end, either through age or injury, such as Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst, Gordon Banks and Jimmy Johnstone, or choice — Rodney Marsh, George Best and Alan Hudson. Then there were the journeymen, the bulk of whom came initially from the third and fourth divisions, but later boasted a host of established names.

Many travelled to the United States as part of a chaotic loan system, where it was common for English clubs to receive under-the-table payments to ensure that players turned up on time and stayed until the play-offs. Noel Cantwell, the former Coventry City manager, who coached the New England Tea Men, explained: “When you were trying to get good players, like Archie Gemmill or Gerry Daly, clubs didn’t want them to go for nothing.” Ron Newman, the former coach of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, admitted: “There were payments to managers. Otherwise, sometimes the players would be a week late or would have an injury they needed to repair.”

The third group consisted of young or unheralded players eager to use the NASL as a launch pad. Brian Talbot, Graeme Souness, Gordon Hill, Peter Withe and Peter Beardsley went on to international careers while Paul Child, a reserve player at Aston Villa, and Alan Willey, a former Middlesbrough striker, stayed to feature in the top ten all-time NASL scorers. Forgotten in their homeland, Willey and Child are to be inducted into a Hall of Fame at next month’s NASL reunion in Oneonta, New York. Alan Merrick, who was a defender with West Bromwich Albion and became Willey’s team-mate at the Minnesota Kicks, contended: “Alan was one of the most underrated players to come out of England. He was everything Michael Owen is.”

British coaches were also in great demand, including Gordon Jago, Freddie Goodwin, Ken Furphy, Bill Foulkes, Tony Waiters and Gordon Bradley, a former Carlisle United wing half who can claim to be the only man to coach Pelé, Beckenbauer and Cruyff together and who was once arrested in Argentina during a trip to sign Daniel Passarella.

With 24 teams and only three Americans required in each, there were some wonderfully diverse squads, most tending to reflect the coach’s nationality. Team chemistry was vital, which included the players’ willingness to take part in promotional activities as alien as the NASL’s 35-yard offside rule and shoot-outs.

But Jimmy Gabriel, the former Everton and Southampton defender, who coached the Seattle Sounders, said: “It became a holiday for some. Instead of being players from the lower divisions who were delighted to be playing against Pelé or Hurst, it was guys who had been playing in the first division anyway. They were less willing to sign autographs or meet the fans. I should have sent some of them home.”

Five to remember

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