in december 1967 the usa merged with the national professional soccer league to form the north american soccer league. as a result, wolves became founding members of the new league. during the inaugural 1968 season wolves played in the "pacific division" alongside the san diego toros, oakland clippers and vancouver royals. with a team coached by ray wood and featuring carlos metidieri, but no wolverhampton wanderers players, they failed to repeat the success of the previous season. after finishing third in their division, wolves were one of several nasl franchises that folded after just one season. the idea of importing teams to represent franchises was revived during the 1969 north american soccer league season and wolverhampton wanderers returned to the united states, this time representing kansas city spurs, and winning the nasl international cup.