When Shamrock Rovers moved lock stock to Boston

Entire clubs from Europe and South America set sail to the United States for the inaugural USA League in 1967 including Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aberdeen, Cagliari and Shamrock Rovers.
When Shamrock Rovers moved lock stock to Boston

Boston Rovers vs Detroit. The Rovers player pictured is Mick Kearin who died last week, aged 82. Credit: Shamrock Rovers FC on Facebook.

I think it is fair to say that football has finally taken off in the United States. With a World Cup on the horizon and steadily increasing attendances, the sport that always eluded the adoration of the US sporting community has begun to embed itself in the culture of young sports fans across the Atlantic.

A lot of effort and some strange ideas have gone into the countless attempts by different individuals to get the world's most popular sport into the heart of the US public. There has always been a very American approach to the philosophy around growing the sport in the US. Get the big stars in and surround them with pageantry and hype and the celeb-crazed American public will lap it up. In 2025 it is Lionel Messi, in 2007 it was David Beckham. Some people of a certain vintage will remember in the 70s when it was Pele. However, in the 1960s it was Shamrock Rovers.

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