You Can't Get There from Here

You Can't Get There from Here is a story of resilience, reinvention, and one man's determination to turn bold dreams into reality.

Roger Faulkner grew up in wartime Britain as a promising tennis player, but his life took a new course when a career transfer brought him to Detroit. After years with Burroughs Corporation, he pursued his passion for soccer by cofounding the Detroit Express of the North American Soccer League with English soccer icon Jimmy Hill. Their partnership ended in turmoil, with Hill subsequently moving the team to Washington, DC, where it was to fold ignominiously in what the British press dubbed "Jimmy Hill's American disaster."

Undeterred, Faulkner later launched Detroit's bid to host matches for the 1994 World Cup. Against all odds, his daring plan to play on natural grass inside the Pontiac Silverdome stunned the world and made history. As chair of the bid and host committees, he helped deliver one of the tournament's most successful venues and later contributed to the World Cup's legacy through participation in the founding of Major League Soccer and the US Soccer Foundation.

Told with humor and candor, Faulkner's story brims with unforgettable encounters-from Henry Kissinger to Robin Williams-and celebrates the persistence required to achieve the seemingly impossible.