Five decades after playing on American soccer fields, Clyde Best is coming to U.S. theaters.

The Bermudan striker, who left home in 1968 at age 17 to play with West Ham United in London, is the subject of a documentary film, “Transforming the Beautiful Game: The Clyde Best Story,” which is focused on Best’s journey, and takes a deeper dive into the inherent racism in the game, in England at to some extent around the world.

The film plays at the Aladdin Theater film festival June 4 and 5 in Portland, where Best played in 1977-1981. The documentary then plays at film festivals in Boston and New York City. You can get information on where to see Best and the film at ClydeBest.com.

I asked Clyde how he reacted when the film’s executive producer Dan Egan asked him to be the subject of a documentary. “I thought it was a good thing,” Best said, “because a lot of people never knew my history.” And, when he watched the film? “It felt good, brought tears to my eyes when I saw my friend Clive Charles’ grave, and stuff like that.”

“Clyde is the most impactful sportsman you never knew,” Egan said. “As a [teenager] he became the first Black superstar in the modern TV era in England. Clyde really broke the color barrier in what’s now the Premier League.”

Best did make quite an impression early in life. He was invited to play on the Bermuda national team at age 15 and two years later he left home for an opportunity at West Ham. There, he first met defender John Charles, whose younger brother Clive Charles would become a lifelong friend of Best’s. Clive Charles played at West Ham, then in the USA, coached in the U.S. and became an American soccer legend.  He passed away in 2003. The Charles family helped make Best’s career in England possible. He lived with them and around them during his entire time at West Ham. 

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