USA Final 1967

USA Final 1967

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum hosted the Final
Event	Soccer Bowl (USA)
Los Angeles Wolves Washington Whips 6 5
On sudden-death overtime
Date	July 14, 1967 (1967-07-14)
Venue	Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
Referee	Dick Giebner (United States)[1]
Attendance	17,842
1967 (NPSL) →

The USA Final 1967 was the United Soccer Association's first, and only, postseason championship game. The Los Angeles Wolves (composed of players from England's Wolverhampton Wanderers defeated the Washington Whips (made up of members of Scotland's Aberdeen F.C.), 6 to 5, in a sudden-death overtime after 90 minutes of regular play and 30 minutes of extra time, with the win coming from an own goal credited against Washington's Ally Shewan.^[2] The title game, a single-game match, took place on July 14, 1967, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before a crowd of only 17,482 people. The game was described as "the greatest final ever played in American soil".^[3]

At the end of regulation, Frank Munro 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 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.^[4][5][6]