Detroit Cougars (soccer)

History

In 1966, various business groups were looking into starting a professional soccer league in the U.S. One of them, the United Soccer Association (USA) under Jack Kent Cooke, picked 12 cities for teams. A group led by Detroit Lions owner William Clay Ford and Detroit Tigers owner John Fetzer was chosen to run the Detroit club. The USA had planned to begin in spring 1968, but the rival National Professional Soccer League, which had a TV deal with CBS, said it would start in 1967.

To avoid falling behind, the USA moved up its launch. Without any player contracts in place, the league brought in entire teams from Europe, Brazil, and Uruguay to stand in for the franchise cities. Northern Ireland’s Glentoran F.C. came over to play as the Cougars, with player-coach John Colrain taking on the same role for the Detroit side. Before the season started, the club announced that Millwall F.C. center forward and player-coach Len Julians would coach the team in 1968.

The Cougars played their first game on May 27, 1967, against the Boston Shamrock Rovers in Lynn, Massachusetts, which ended in a 1–1 draw. On June 14, 1967, a game against the Houston Stars (represented by Brazil’s Bangu Atlético Clube) ended 17 minutes early with Houston winning 2–0 after fullback Luiz Alberto kicked Tommy Jackson in the kidney, forcing police to restore order on the field. In late June 1967, Colrain said he would stop playing for the season and only remain as head coach.