Today, Americans are celebrating Independence Day.
It was 4 July 1776, exactly 249 years ago, when the Founding Fathers gathered in Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of Independence and establish the United States of America. Almost two-and-a-half centuries on, the Fourth of July is now a federal holiday celebrated with fireworks, parades and spending time with families.
Of course, in 1776, West Ham United FC was still over 100 years from being formed, and the Fourth of July is closely associated with baseball, rather than association football. However, the sport Americans know as soccer is now hugely popular in the United States, with over 20 million players, thriving professional leagues, and the country hosting both the men’s and women’s FIFA World Cup finals.
This summer, the US is hosting the FIFA Club World Cup and co-hosting the men’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, and, alongside Canada and Mexico, the States will host the men’s FIFA World Cup for the second time in 2026.
Of America’s aforementioned thriving professional leagues, the men’s Major League Soccer - the highest level of the US soccer league system - was founded in 1993 as part of the nation’s successful bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup, with ten teams competing in its inaugural season in 1996.
In the 29 years since, the competition has provided the basis for football’s considered growth in the US, with 30 clubs now competing across two conferences (Eastern and Western), and only the Premier League attracting a higher total attendance across the world as of December 2024.
Global superstars, such as David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimović and Lionel Messi, have starred in the MLS and helped build the brand over the years, while Messi’s Inter Miami side - who are incidentally co-owned by Beckham - were one of three teams to take part in this summer’s ongoing FIFA Club World Cup.
West Ham United boast a number of links to the USA’s premier division, with several ex-players and members of staff having also plied their trade across the pond during their careers, while we have also competed against some of the league’s best-known teams and individuals at home and on tour.
Having travelled to the States three times during the MLS era - in 2008, 2016 and 2024 - we will write another chapter when Head Coach Graham Potter takes his squad on a 12-day trip to America, to compete in the Premier League Summer Series that starts later this month.
Indeed, as part of their preparations for the 2025/26 season, the Hammers are set to tackle Manchester United at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Saturday 26 July, Everton at Soldier Field in Chicago on Wednesday 30 July and AFC Bournemouth at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Sunday 3 August. Tickets for all three games are available now HERE.
So, as Americans celebrate Independence Day, we take a look back at the Hammers’ historic links with the MLS...
Stateside Hammers
Over 20 individuals have either played for or represented both West Ham United and an MLS club during their footballing journeys.
Of those, former England international Chris Woods - who served as the Hammers’ goalkeeper coach between 2015 and 2018 - and midfielder John Harkes - who made 13 appearances in Claret and Blue on loan from Derby County during the 1995/96 campaign - were involved in the inaugural 1996 season, for Colorado Rapids and DC United respectively.
While Woods returned to the UK to finish his glittering career with Southampton, Sunderland and Burnley, after making 24 MLS appearances but being unable to prevent the Rapids finishing bottom of the Western Conference ranks, Harkes remained at DC United until 1998, later represented New England Revolution and Columbus Crew, and has since managed current MLS outfit FC Cincinnati.
Among the most successful ex-Hammers to compete Stateside, Republic of Ireland great Robbie Keane was crowned the league’s Most Valuable Player in 2014, after scoring 21 goals in 34 league games for LA Galaxy en route to MLS Cup success - his and his team’s third such triumph in four years.
Keane, who scored twice in ten appearances for West Ham on loan from Tottenham in the latter half of 2010/11, struck 104 times for Galaxy in 165 games in all competitions between 2011 and 2016. Fellow former Irons striker Javier Hernández is also an ex-representative of the California club, having called Dignity Health Sports Park home between 2020 and 2023, while Academy of Football graduate Sebastian Lletget was a teammate of Hernández’s during his time there between 2015 and 2021.
United States international Lletget swapped east London for Los Angeles after making one senior appearance - in a heavy FA Cup defeat to Nottingham Forest in January 2014 - and scored 30 goals in 177 games before a stint at New England Revolution, and a subsequent 2022 switch to his current club, FC Dallas.
Besides Lletget, Xande Silva is another former West Ham player who is still playing in the MLS. The now 28-year-old Portugal youth international moved to London Stadium from Vitória Guimarães in 2018, and made two appearances before joining Nottingham Forest in a permanent deal three years later. He spent three seasons at Atlanta United, the first on loan, before signing for St. Louis City SC in April 2025, ahead of the ongoing campaign.
Atlanta is one of three MLS clubs that Tyrone Mears - who featured for West Ham six times in the first half of 2006/07 - represented as a player, alongside Seattle Sounders and Minnesota United, while he has since gone into management in the States with USL Super League club Fort Lauderdale United. Hammers youth product and 2012 EFL Championship Play-Off final winner Jack Collison - who scored 14 goals in 121 Claret and Blue outings - was the head coach of Atlanta’s second team between 2021 and 2022, and he has since spent time in charge of current MLS Next Pro side Huntsville City. Another prominent former Iron, USA international Jonathan Spector, has ties with Atlanta United, having served as their Head of International Recruitment and Development since August 2019, following a playing stint at Orlando City towards the end of his career.
Several other notable West Ham alumni have strutted their stuff on the MLS stage, with the likes of Jermain Defoe (105 Hammers appearances, 41 goals), Shaka Hislop (157 apps, 50 clean sheets), Frank Lampard Jr (187 apps, 38 goals) and Winston Reid (222 apps, ten goals) having featured for Toronto, FC Dallas, New York City and Sporting Kansas City respectively. Our 2005 Championship Play-Off final-winning captain, Nigel Reo-Coker (142 apps, eleven goals), also spent several years as a player in the States, at Vancouver Whitecaps, Chivas USA and Montreal Impact.
American adventures
Having been semi-regular visitors to North America during the 1960s and early 1970s, West Ham United toured the USA for the first time for 37 years back in summer 2008, for two exciting match-ups against Columbus Crew and the MLS All-Stars.
Alan Curbishley’s Irons first took on the eventual 2008 MLS Cup champions Crew at their former 20,145-seater Crew Stadium home in Ohio on 20 July, where Dean Ashton and Kyel Reid strikes, either side of a Brad Evans own-goal, earned a 3-1 win.
Four days later, West Ham travelled across the Canadian border to Toronto for the 13th annual MLS All-Star game against an impressive squad featuring the likes of David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Juan Pablo Ángel, coached by New England Revolution boss Steve Nicol.
Ashton put the Hammers in front and later notched his second of the match, however goals from Christian Gómez and Cuauhtémoc Blanco, and a Dwayne De Rosario penalty, sealed a narrow 3-2 win for the All-Stars.
Eight years later, in 2016, West Ham returned to the USA under Slaven Bilić for match-ups against MLS side Seattle Sounders in Washington State and USL club Carolina Railhawks (now North Carolina FC).
A Herculez Gomez penalty and a Jordan Morris brace powered the Sounders to a 3-0 win at what is now known as Lumen Field, on 6 July, before Winston Reid and Andy Carroll goals helped earn a 2-2 draw against the Railhawks at WakeMed Soccer Park a week later.
On their third and most recent tour to the US during the MLS era, in 2024, the Irons faced off against Premier League opposition, falling to 3-1 defeats to both Wolverhampton Wanderers and Crystal Palace in the Stateside Cup in Florida.
Battles against the best
Away from direct competition against MLS teams and their players, West Ham United has shared links with some of the league’s biggest names throughout the 29 years since its inception.
Among the 29 winners of the MLS Landon Donovan MVP Award so far, Carlos Vela - who was presented with the 2019 prize while at Los Angeles FC - came up against the Hammers twice during his seven-year stay at London rivals Arsenal, at the start of his career.
Indeed, the Mexico international came off the bench and completed 54 minutes of a 0-0 Premier League draw at Emirates Stadium in January 2009, before contributing two assists en route to a 2-1 FA Cup third-round win for the Gunners at the Boleyn Ground little under a year later.
2021 MVP Award winner Carles Gil - who is still a member of the New England Revolution squad - also took on the Irons on two occasions in his early playing days at Aston Villa, both in the 2015/16 Premier League season.
The Spain youth international came on as a substitute in a 1-1 draw at Villa Park on Boxing Day 2015, and then started the reverse fixture in east London, where Michail Antonio and Cheikhou Kouyaté goals secured a 2-0 triumph for West Ham.
Alejandro Pozuelo, the 2020 MLS MVP, made one Premier League appearance against the Hammers while at Swansea City, in February 2014, featuring for 27 minutes of a fixture that finished 2-0 to the hosts at Upton Park, thanks to a Kevin Nolan brace.
Finally, 2024 winner Lionel Messi may have never played in a match against West Ham, however he did score to help Argentina beat Croatia 2-1 at the Boleyn Ground in November 2014, after taking on the Club’s U21s while training at Rush Green.
