The USA Final 1967 was the

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American S ...

's first, and only, postseason championship game. The

Los Angeles Wolves The Los Angeles Wolves were an American professional soccer team that played for two seasons. In 1967 they played in the United Soccer Association, finishing as champions, and in 1968 they were founding members of the North American Soccer Leag ...

(composed of players from England's

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

defeated the

Washington Whips The Washington Whips were a soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that played in the United Soccer Association (USA). The league was made up of teams imported from foreign leagues. The Washington Whips were the Aberdeen F.C. from Scotland. The n ...

(made up of members of Scotland's

Aberdeen F.C. Aberdeen Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen, Scotland. They compete in the Scottish Premiership and have never been relegated from the top division of the Scottish football league system since they were ...

), 6 to 5, in a

sudden-death overtime In a sport or game, sudden death (also sudden-death, sudden-death overtime, or a sudden-death round) is a form of competition where play ends as soon as one competitor is ahead of the others, with that competitor becoming the winner. Sudden deat ...

after 90 minutes of regular play and 30 minutes of

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

, with the win coming from an own goal credited against Washington's

Ally Shewan Ally Shewan (born 5 August 1940) is a Scottish former footballer.Ally Shewan
AFC ...

. The title game, a single-game match, took place on July 14, 1967, at the

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a mem ...

before a crowd of only 17,482 people. The game was described as "the greatest final ever played in American soil". At the end of regulation,

Frank Munro Francis Michael "Frank" Munro (25 October 1947 – 16 August 2011) was a Scottish international footballer who played as a centre back. Munro played for Dundee United and Aberdeen in his native Scotland before moving to Wolverhampton Wanderers ...

of Washington had tied the game 4 to 4, and then tied it 5 to 5 in the final seconds of extra time. Under the USA rules for playoff games, the winner would be the first team to score if the match was still tied after 120 minutes. Six minutes into overtime,

Bobby Thomson Robert Brown Thomson (October 25, 1923 – August 16, 2010) was a Scottish Americans, Scottish-born American professional baseball player, nicknamed the "Staten Island Scot". He was an outfielder and right-handed batter for the New York Giants ( ...

of Los Angeles was attempting to pass toward the Washington goal, and his shot rebounded off of Shewan's thigh and into the goal that had been left open by Washington goalie Bobby Clark; the Wolves flew back to England two days later.

Background

A coin flip held on June 27 determined which division champion (Eastern or Western) would host the championship final.https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19670628&id=RJ8yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8ukFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5833,2471323 The Washington Whips won the Eastern Division with 5 wins, 5 draws and 2 losses for 15 total points. The Los Angeles Wolves won the Western Division, also with 5 wins, 5 draws and 2 losses for 15 points. As division champions, both teams earned the right to compete in the inaugural title game. Although Washington held a slight advantage in goal differential, a coin flip was used to decide that the Western Division winner would be the home side for the final.

Match details

1967 USA Champions:

References

External links

* {{1967 in American soccer 1967a 1 1967a July 1967 sports events in the United States 1967 in sports in California Soccer in California