Even before Lionel Messi, Son Heung-min and now Antoine Griezmann, American soccer leagues welcomed some of Europe’s biggest names.
Bermudian Clyde Best, during his time in a West Ham United kit in the late-1960s, was often the only Black man in the stadium. He scored 47 goals for the legendary first division club before ending up with Tampa Bay Rowdies where he earned 22 caps and helped bring home the 1975 NASL Soccer Bowl championship.
A new film, “Transforming the Beautiful Game: The Clyde Best Story,” celebrates not just Best, now 75 years old, but the impact he had on European football and the world at large.
One part of the film takes place when Best’s West Ham side took on Pele’s Santos team during a 1970 exhibition in the U.S. Best and the Brazilian soccer god each scored two goals. The legends exchanged shirts, before Pele said, “Clyde, I’m the king, and now you’re the prince.”
The documentary also documents his final years at West Ham, when the team signed three strikers without telling Best, who was also overlooked for a place in the 1975 FA Cup Final.
“If I had a bucket, I would’ve shed tears,” Best said in the film, talking about how he had to watch the game from the stands.
Best soon came to America on loan to escape the sadness. And it features an appearance from another Rowdies legend, Farrukh Quraishi, who welcomed Best to town.
“We fell in love with the place, there was sun every day,” Best says in the film. “Tampa was growing, we were a new football team, and everyone was excited because soccer had never been played in Tampa before.”
The movie makes its East Coast premiere in St. Petersburg this week, with a May 7 showing that includes a red carpet meet-and-greet with Best, plus a post-panel discussion.
This article appears in Apr. 30 – May 06, 2026.