Steven Gerrard and the 10 Biggest English Footballers to Play in America

Upon the conclusion of this Premier League season, Steven Gerrard will be heading out west to join LA Galaxy. According to the BBC, the Liverpool legend will make his MLS debut on July 17 against the San Jose Earthquakes.

Stevie G is by no means the first Englishman to play in America, as some of the biggest names in the English game have crossed the pond to ply their trade. 

Here are 10 legendary Englishmen who have also upped sticks to head to America. And no, Frank Lampard does not feature as new reports suggest it is possible he may never even play in New York...

Bobby Moore

The original North American Soccer League (NASL) was founded in 1967, but its popularity peaked in the late 1970s when a host of international talent arrived in the States. 

One such talent was World Cup winner Bobby Moore, who joined the San Antonio Thunder in 1976 for 24 games. Moore then returned to Fulham but came out for one last American jaunt in 1978, when he played nine times for the Seattle Sounders.

Alan Ball

Moore's 1966 World Cup team-mate Alan Ball also ventured across the pond, joining the Philadelphia Fury in May 1978.

The legendary midfielder played 33 matches, scored five goals and was made player-manager of the short-lived team that was part-owned by Mick Jagger, Rick Wakeman, Peter Frampton and Paul Simon.

Ball then moved to the Vancouver Whitecaps in June 1979 and led the side to that season's Soccer Bowl title (the championship title), earning the play-off MVP award along the way.

Gordon Banks

The year after he won the World Cup with the Three Lions, goalkeeper Gordon Banks moved from Stoke to the Cleveland Stokers, a short-lived satellite club in Ohio whose squad initially consisted entirely of Potters players. 

A decade later, in April 1977, Banks came back to the States to tend the net for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, who won their NASL division in his first season. 

Geoff Hurst

Here's one more 1966 World Cup winner for good measure.

Sir Geoff Hurst played the vast majority of his career at West Ham, but in his final year on the field, 1976, England's hat-trick hero joined the Seattle Sounders. Hurst had an immediate impact, scoring nine goals in 23 games and leading the team to their first-ever play-off run.

They ended up losing the 1977 Soccer Bowl final to the New York Cosmos, who boasted Pele, Franz Beckenbauer and Carlos Alberto in their ranks. 

Peter Beardsley

Most of the players on this list moved to the USA in the autumn years of their careers. Peter Beardsley, however, was only 21 years old when he started his first stint with the Vancouver Whitecaps in September 1982. 

Manchester United manager Ron Atkinson soon brought the striker back to England, but after failing to make any impact at Old Trafford, he returned to Vancouver in 1983. 

Beardsley amassed 28 goals in his two spells with the Whitecaps, but later in 1983 he returned to the UK once again to join Newcastle, where his career really began to blossom.

Rodney Marsh

After guiding Queens Park Rangers through the ranks of English football and a mixed spell at Manchester City, Rodney Marsh signed for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in January 1976.

The tricky forward spent three seasons in Florida, leading the Rowdies to the Soccer Bowl in his final two campaigns. (They lost the '78 final to Beckenbauer and Alberto's Cosmos, and the '79 final to Alan Ball's Whitecaps.)

Marsh was frequently outspoken and famously responsed to claims that he was the white Pele by saying: "No, he is the black Rodney Marsh."

In the 1980s, Marsh returned to the States to manage New York United, the Carolina Lightnin' and the Rowdies. 

Peter Osgood

Peter Osgood made his name on the pitch at Stamford Bridge and as a playboy on the King's Road.

In 1977, at the age of 30, the legendary striker moved to the aforementioned glamour side Philadelphia Flyers, where he would eventually play alongside Alan Ball and Johnny Giles.

Osgood failed to set the NASL alight, scoring just once in 22 games before he returned to Chelsea in the winter of 1978.

Colin Bell

Widely regarded as one of Manchester City's greatest-ever players, Colin Bell was responsible for some of the club's greatest achievements in the pre-Emirati era. 

In 1980, after 13 years at Maine Road, the midfielder made a move to the San Jose Earthquakes to play alongside George Best. He ended up playing only five goalless games before hanging up his boots for good.

Darren Huckerby

One may not expect Darren Huckerby to be included among a list of such World Cup-winning luminaries, and he is the only man on this list who never represented his country at senior level.

However, according to the hilariously awkward interview above, he was hailed as a "legend" when he arrived at the San Jose Earthquakes in 2008.

Huckerby played 25 games over two seasons, scoring nine goals before he retired.

David Beckham

Did you think it would be possible to get through this list without mentioning Goldenballs?

In the summer of 2007, MLS pulled off one of its greatest marketing coups by persuading David Beckham to join the LA Galaxy.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star gave the American game a huge publicity boost, and even prompted a new rule (nicknamed "The Beckham Rule") that would allow clubs to break their pay structures to bring in big names. 

In six seasons in Los Angeles, Beckham won two MLS Cups (the modern equivalent of the Soccer Bowl) and scored 18 times in 98 appearances.

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