Ah, the American dream. To become whatever you want, regardless of wherever you come from, even if it’s out of the proverbial nowhere. With hard work and determination, everything is possible in the land of the free, the home of the go-getter: Watford, England.

Two-and-a-half years ago, Jay DeMerit packed up his shin pads and waved goodbye to his family in Wisconsin to pursue his dream of playing in the Premiership. The defender had been honing his skills at the University of Illinois at Chicago when a British team-mate suggested he give England a shot, so DeMerit followed him home and started playing non-league at Northwood. He brought with him less than $2,000 and bags of determination.

His break came six months later when Watford took notice of his talent during a friendly against Northwood and signed him on a one-year contract. The move paid off for both sides. In May, DeMerit scored the first goal in the play-off final victory over Leeds United and was named man of the match. Now, happily settled in north London and about to start his first season in the Premiership, 26-year-old DeMerit sounds like a guy who can’t believe his luck.

He feels particularly lucky to be around coaches like Aidy Boothroyd and the former Spurs manager Keith Burkinshaw. “Just to hear their stories and to be around them and that kind of attitude is just a cool thing,” he says. He also speaks frankly about the comparative lack of football interest in America, citing competition from other sports as a factor. “It’s unfortunate, because to actually see the atmosphere and be a part of what it is over here, is just amazing.”

For DeMerit, the country that invented football is also the best place to play it. In the summer, the world was reminded that support for England is also the most feverish. “The fans are so passionate here, and all of Europe for that matter … it doesn’t matter if it’s 0-0, they understand what good football is, they understand what it means.”

Football is increasingly popular in America as a recreational sport and with schoolchildren – hence the ubiquity of the term “soccer mom” – but professionally it has never reached the revered heights of other nations, despite the USA’s successful hosting of the World Cup in 1994. DeMerit remembers visiting friends in the States after Watford’s play-off win. “They were just like ‘Oh, I heard you won a game’. You try to tell people what it’s like and what people are like and how the game is looked at here, and nobody understands.”

The First Lady Laura Bush offered her take during a recent visit to Germany: “Americans really are just learning about soccer. It’s a new sport to the United States. I guess you can tell it’s a new sport by the way our team plays.”

How to cure America of football apathy? Experience, exposure. DeMerit says he’s met plenty of Americans who have fallen in love with the sport after having spent some time here. “It’s not that Americans are incapable of liking the game; I don’t think that at all. They just need to be a part of what the game’s supposed to be.”

And according to DeMerit, they’re getting there. He mentions the Italian Americans who “went nuts” during the World Cup as an example of “the kind of passion the game needs and makes it what it is”. Finally, things appear to be stirring up. The New York Times World Cup blog was a surprising success, igniting a devoted following that posted moving comments about their sadness in seeing the tournament – and the blog – come to an end. For this new breed of desktop pundits, the next tournament can’t come soon enough.

And with more and more motivated, talented American players like DeMerit polishing their play over here, who knows what could happen? “I’m just going to keep trying to improve; I’m just starting my third year of being a professional. I realise that I have a lot to improve on. That’s what I want to concentrate on, first and foremost, and then the rest can take care of itself.”