“Transforming the Beautiful Game: The Clyde Best Story” Documentary Coming to Loudermilk Center on July 13-14

Transforming the Beautiful Game: The Clyde Best Story will come to Atlanta for a special two-night screening event July 13-14 at the Loudermilk Center, organizers announced today together with Atlanta’s BronzeLens Film Festival. The event will also be in partnership with Soccer in the Streets organization based in Atlanta. Tickets are on sale now at clydebest.shop.

Following acclaimed premieres in London, Bermuda, Tampa Bay and Portland, the powerful documentary now arrives in one of the historical birthplaces of the American civil rights movement — a city whose legacy of courage, equality and social change mirrors many of the themes explored in Clyde Best’s groundbreaking journey through professional football.

WATCH: Premiere trailer

The documentary celebrates the extraordinary life and legacy of Bermudian legend Best — the first Black soccer superstar of the modern television era in England — and a pioneering figure whose career helped break racial barriers in global sport while shaping the early growth of professional soccer in the United States.

Among other key moments, the film revisits Easter Sunday 1972, when Best, Clive Charles, and Ade Coker became the first Black trio to start a match in England’s First Division — an historic milestone that transcended sport.

The documentary also chronicles Best’s vital role in American soccer during its formative professional years. In the North American Soccer League, he helped the Tampa Bay Rowdies capture the 1975 Soccer Bowl and later became a fan favorite with the Portland Timbers, leaving a lasting imprint on the U.S. game on and off the pitch.

Narrated by award-nominated actor Tony Head, who features in Tyler Perry’s BET series Zatima, the film brings Best’s story to life with emotional depth and historical resonance. It also features an original score and songs by acclaimed musician Roy Hay of Culture Club. Featuring newly uncovered archival footage and exclusive interviews, the documentary includes appearances by Harry Redknapp, Les Ferdinand, Viv Anderson, Ian Wright, and U.S. Men’s National Team star Kasey Keller, who reflects on the development and evolution of the professional game in the U.S. during Best’s years.

Each show is more than just a film screening but a theater experience featuring conversation, guest appearance from Best, post-film panel discussion and giveaways like a trip to Bermuda.