Real Salt Lake's rich history in Utah dates back to 1882, six years before Brazilians even began playing the game. Historian Roy Webb stumbled upon this information while watching his daughter play soccer. He assumed the sport's popularity in the state traced back to Pelé's arrival in the United States in the 1970s. However, his research revealed that Utah's first known soccer team formed in 1882. Webb wrote that from the 1890s to World War II, soccer was as big a sport in urban Utah as any other and was played by people as diverse as roughneck miners in hard scramble camps and school kids in small communities such as Panguitch, Monroe, Kanab, and Vernal. Research in newspaper archives points to the same conclusion. Real Salt Lake's history is a testament to the sport's enduring popularity in Utah.