1967-1968 Los Angeles Wolves

United Soccer Association (1967)
North American Soccer League (1968)

Born: 1967 – USA founding franchise
Folded: Postseason 1968

Stadiums:

1967: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
1968: The Rose Bowl (100,423)

Team Colors: Forum Blue & Gold

USA Champions: 1967
NASL Championships: None

The Los Angeles Wolves were a pro soccer club founded by Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Kings owner Jack Kent Cooke. The Wolves were one of twelve original members of the United Soccer Association (USA) in 1967. The USA planned to launch in 1968, but accelerated its timetable when a rival league, the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL), announced plans to start play in 1967. The NPSL also had an L.A. franchise, the Los Angeles Toros.

Cooke originally planned to call his club the “Los Angeles Zorros”. But due to the USA’s scramble to launch in 1967, the league imported entire European and South American clubs to stock the rosters of its twelve franchises. Wolverhampton Wanderers of England signed on play for Cooke in Los Angeles. Wolverhampton was colloquially known as the “Wolves” and Cooke dropped the Zorros moniker in favor of Wolves shortly began the USA began play in the spring of 1967.

The Wolves topped the USA’s Western Conference with a 5-5-2 record. On July 14th, 1967, the Wolves hosted the Washington Whips in the United Soccer Association championship game at Memorial Coliseum. A crowd of 17,824 watched the Wolves best the Whips 6-5 in sudden death overtime.

After the 1967 season, the USA merged with the rival NPSL to form the North American Soccer League (NASL). Jack Kent Cooke’s Wolves retained the Los Angeles market while their erstwhile rivals, the Toros, moved south to San Diego.

The NASL abandoned the imported team strategy, so the 1968 Wolves featured an entirely new roster and coaching staff from the previous year’s champs. The club also left the Memorial Coliseum for a new home at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The re-booted Wolves dropped to 11-13-8 and failed to make the playoffs.

The Wolves folded following the 1968 season. Pro soccer returned to Los Angeles six years later with the formation of the NASL’s Los Angeles Aztecs in 1974.