The Detroit Mustangs were a lower-division pro soccer club that toiled in obscurity for two summers in the early 1970’s. The team made its home a Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck, a Works Progress Administration building opened in 1936. The Mustangs played in the American Soccer League, a bare bones collective that fielded fourteen clubs in 1972. The Mustangs exclusively played against the other five expansion teams in the ASL’s newly formed Midwestern Conference
The Detroit Express began life as an expansion team in the North American Soccer League in 1978. The Express, who played at the Pontiac Silverdome, swiftly gained international attention by acquiring English soccer star Trevor Francis on loan from Birmingham City. It was an era when NASL owners lured numerous aging European stars to America with eye-popping paychecks. Francis was an exception to this NASL retirement plan. He was only 25 years old and at the peak of his powers during his two Express seasons in 1978 and 1979. The NASL Express franchise moved to Washington D.C. after three seasons in early 1981. A new version of the Express immediately formed and joined the lower division American Soccer League, playing three more seasons from 1981 through 1983.
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