Jacksonville to host Premier League soccer clubs in July
For the first time in nearly a decade, Premier League soccer is coming back to the First Coast.
English soccer clubs West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers will play a preseason match at Jacksonville’s EverBank Stadium at 7 p.m. July 27.
The match is part of the inaugural Stateside Cup, a three-team tournament that also includes London-based Crystal Palace. The other games in the series will take place July 31, in Annapolis, Md., and Aug. 3, in Tampa.
West Ham, based in London, and Wolverhampton currently stand ninth and twelfth respectively in the Premier League standings for 2023-24, with two weeks to go. Both are mathematically assured of retaining Premier League status for 2024-25.
The game is the first involving an English club in Jacksonville since Fulham, under Jaguars owner Shad Khan, played Major League Soccer’s D.C. United on July 26, 2014. That game also served as the grand opening for the new video boards at the stadium.
It will be the first game involving teams actively involved in the Premier League since Leicester City played the Jacksonville Cyclones on May 26, 1998. Fulham had been relegated from the league just before coming to Jacksonville in 2014.
Tickets go on sale Friday for supporters of the respective clubs, and sales begin for the general public on Monday.
Club Profile: West Ham United
West Ham United was formed under its current name in 1900, playing on the east side of London, and plays its games in the stadium built for the 2012 Olympic Games. They have remained in the Premier League continuously since 2012.
Although West Ham has yet to win a top-division league championship, the Hammers — the traditional nickname for the club — have fared better in cup competitions, winning the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2023. They’ve also won the FA Cup in 1964, 1975 and 1980.
Manager David Moyes, whose contract expires at season’s end, is set to be replaced in summer by Julen Lopetegui, who previously led Wolves in 2022 and 2023. Noted players for West Ham include England national team wing forward Jarrod Bowen, Czech national team captain Tomas Soucek and Mexican midfielder Edson Alvarez.
Club Profile: Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton, often known as Wolves, was among the 12 clubs that founded England’s Football League in 1888. The club has competed continuously in the Premier League since 2018.
The club is based in England’s West Midlands, west of Birmingham. Wolves won three league titles in the English First Division (the top flight of the game before the Premier League’s formation in 1992) and also won the FA Cup in 1893, 1908, 1949 and 1960.
Managed by Gary O’Neil, Wolverhampton’s most noted players include Matheus Cunha of Brazil, Hwang HeeChan of South Korea and Pablo Sarabia of Spain, all active with their respective national teams.
Wolverhampton also scheduled a game in Jacksonville 43 years ago, playing the North American Soccer League’s Jacksonville Tea Men at the old Gator Bowl in 1981.