The Tampa Bay Rowdies were an American professional soccer team based in Tampa, Florida, that competed in the original North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1975 to 1984. They enjoyed popular support in the Tampa Bay area until the NASL folded in 1984, after which the team played in various minor indoor and outdoor leagues before finally folding on January 31, 1994. The Rowdies played nearly all of their outdoor home games at Tampa Stadium and nearly all of their indoor games at the Bayfront Center Arena in nearby St. Petersburg, Florida. Although San Diego played indoors until 1996, the Rowdies were the last surviving NASL franchise that played outdoor soccer on a regular basis.
NASL: 1975–1984 On June 19, 1974 George Strawbridge and Beau Rogers, IV purchased an expansion franchise in North American Soccer League for the sum of $25,000 and by July 24 they named Eddie Firmani their coach. In October 1974, Alex Pringle became the first player to sign with the team. On November 21, 1974, the Tampa Bay Professional Soccer Club announced that it would henceforth be known as the Tampa Bay Rowdies. The Rowdies played ten seasons at Tampa Stadium and won their only Soccer Bowl championship in their 1975 inaugural season, defeating the Portland Timbers 2–0 on August 24. The Rowdies also finished as runners-up in 1978 and 1979. The team showcased international stars such as midfielder and team captain Rodney Marsh (England), 1979 league scoring leader Óscar Fabbiani (Chile), swift and forward Steve Wegerle (South Africa), rock-solid defenseman Arsene Auguste (Haiti), 1976 NASL goal scoring champion Derek Smethurst (South Africa), who was also the franchise's all-time leading goal scorer with 57 tallies in 65 games, and forward Clyde Best (Bermuda). Coached along the way by Firmani, John Boyle, Gordon Jago, Al Miller, and Marsh after his retirement, their catch phrase and marketing slogan was "The Rowdies arrrre...a kick in the grass!"
While no NASL team captured a treble, in 1975–76 Tampa Bay came the closest by successively winning the three different NASL titles then available (Soccer Bowl '75, 1976 Indoor Title, 1976 Regular Season title) within twelve months. On and off the pitch, the Rowdies proved to be one of the league's most recognizable brands. At one three-year point in their history, the team regularly drew crowds of well over 25,000 spectators per night. In 1979, three matches were attended by over 40,000 people, and the following year two more surpassed the 50,000 mark. The Rowdies had long-standing rivalries with both the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers and the New York Cosmos.
Following the 1981 season the Dallas Tornado merged with Tampa Bay. At the time, Dallas principals Lamar Hunt and Bill McNutt retained a minority stake in the Rowdies. Two years later after the 1983 season, Strawbidge, Hunt and McNutt sold the team outright to local investors Stella Thayer, Bob Blanchard and Dick Corbett.
Year-by-year YearRecordRegular season finishPlayoffsLeading goal scorersAvg. attend.197516–61st, Eastern DivisionNASL Champions (3-0)Derek Smethurst-18, Stewart Scullion-710,728197618–61st, Eastern Division, Atlantic ConferenceAtlantic Conf. Championship (1-1)Derek Smethurst-20, Rodney Marsh-11, Stewart Scullion-1016,452197714–123rd, Eastern Division, Atlantic ConferenceDivisional Playoffs (0-1)Derek Smethurst-19, Rodney Marsh-8, David Robb-819,491197818–121st, Eastern Division, American ConferenceRunners-up (4-3)Rodney Marsh-18, David Robb-16, Steve Wegerle-718,123197919–111st, Eastern Division, American ConferenceRunners-up (6-2)Óscar Fabbiani-25, Rodney Marsh-11, Petar Baralić-927,650198019–131st, Eastern Division, American ConferenceAmerican Conf. Semifinals (3-2)Oscar Fabbiani-13, Neill Roberts-10, Steve Wegerle-928,345198115–174th, Southern DivisionQuarterfinals (3-2)Frank Worthington-11, Luís Fernando-9, David Moss-922,299198212–203rd, Southern DivisionDid not qualifyLuís Fernando-16, Tatu-722,53219837–233rd, Southern DivisionDid not qualifyTatu-12, Manny Rojas-818,50719849–154th, Eastern DivisionDid not qualifyRoy Wegerle-9, Neill Roberts-9, Wes McLeod-710,932
Home attendance records YearAttendanceOpponent198056,389California198054,247New York198148,355San Diego197945,888Rochester197745,288Cosmos197642,611New York197841,888Cosmos197741,680Zenit Leningrad197941,102Ft. Lauderdale197940,701New York198040,368Ft. Lauderdale198240,098Jacksonville197938,766San Diego*197837,249Ft. Lauderdale**playoff game
NASL Indoor Soccer In the winter of 1975, the NASL conducted a two-tiered, 16-team indoor tournament with four regional winners meeting in a "final-four" style championship. The Rowdies defeated the New York Cosmos 13–5 in the semi-final, before losing 8–5 to the host San Jose Earthquakes in the finals on March 16 at the Cow Palace. The Rowdies again reached the final-four in 1976. This time Tampa Bay, the host team, would not be denied, as they followed up a 6–2 semi-final win over Dallas with a 6–4 finals triumph over the Rochester Lancers on March 27 in the Bayfront Center. Over the next few years, the Rowdies (and a handful of other NASL teams) played indoor friendlies and invitationals to prepare for the start of the outdoor season. The NASL did not sanction a full indoor season until 1979–80, when the Rowdies won the championship by defeating the Memphis Rogues 2 games to 1. The 1980–81 campaign marked the first time Tampa Bay missed the playoffs, indoor or outdoor. In the 1981–82 season they lost the finals to the San Diego Sockers 2 games to 0. Once again the NASL chose not to sanction a full indoor season in 1982–83, but (in addition to a few friendlies) Tampa Bay and three other teams participated in the Grand Prix of Indoor Soccer. The Rowdies finished second in the round-robin stage and went on to defeat Montreal for the championship in a double overtime thriller at the Montreal Forum; 5–4. The final NASL indoor season took place in 1983–84 and the Rowdies finished last out of the seven teams. Due to scheduling issues that season, the Rowdies played five games at the Bayfront Center, eight at the State Fairgrounds' Expo Hall in Tampa, and three in the Lakeland Civic Center. Tampa Bay regularly drew home crowds of over five thousand "fannies" to the Bayfront Center, despite the arena's limited seating capacity and relatively remote location.
Indoor yearRecordRegular season finishPlayoffsLeading goal scorersAvg. attend.19753–11st, Region 3 (2–0)Runners-up (1–1)Doug Wark-10, Cantillo-5, Hartze-44,23519765–01st, Eastern Region (2–0)NASL Champions (2–0)Clyde Best-11, Scullion-6, Smethurst-4, Marsh-45,45819771–1(friendlies only)noneDerek Smethurst-5, Marsh-4, S. Wegerle-3 5,68519786–2(friendlies only)noneSmethurst-14, Fink-10 Marsh-9, McLeod-85,90119793–22nd, Budweiser Invitational (2–0)Invitational Runners-upMirandinha-5, S. Wegerle-5, Marsh-4 6,1811979–808–42nd, Eastern DivisionNASL Champions (5–1)Peter Baralić-21, McLeod-13, P. Anderson-75,7121980–819–92nd, Eastern Divisiondid not qualifyÓscar Fabbiani-31, S. Wegerle-25, McLeod-215,1751981–8211–72nd, Cent. Division, American Conf.Runners-up (4–4)Tatu-21, Zequinha-19, McLeod-15, Pesa-155,372198310–22nd, in Grand Prix preliminaries (4–2)Grand Prix Champions (2–0)Hugo Pérez-12, Tatu-12, Karpun-11, McLeod-84,7711983–849–237thdid not qualifyTatu-49, Peter Roe-22, Van der Beck-182,334
Indoor home attendance records YearAttendanceOpponent19786,410Washington19786,410Minnesota19786,399Dallas19786,384Tulsa19776,354Zenit Leningrad19796,342Fort Lauderdale19796,338Tulsa19826,325San Diego*19806,243Fort Lauderdale19806,200New England19806,145Detroit19806,141Atlanta*19796,040Dynamo Moscow19796,002Houston*playoff game
Players, coaches, and honors – NASL era
Honors
NASL championships (1) 1975 runner-up: 1978, 1979
NASL Indoor championships (3) 1976, 1979–80, 1983 runner-up: 1975, 1979, 1981–82
Regular Season Premiership (1) 1976 (18–6 -154 points) runner-up: 1975
Division titles (6) 1975 Eastern Division 1976 Eastern Division, Atlantic Conference 1978 Eastern Division, American Conference 1979 Eastern Division, American Conference 1980 Eastern Division, American Conference 1979–80 Eastern Division Playoffs (indoor)
Conference Titles (3) 1978 American Conference 1979 American Conference 1981–82 Atlantic Conference (indoor)
Regional Titles (2) 1975 Indoor Region 3 1976 Indoor East Region
League scoring champion 1979 Óscar Fabbiani (25 goals, 8 assists, 58 points)
League goal scoring champion 1976 Derek Smethurst (20 goals)
Indoor Grand Prix Assists Leader 1983 Wes McLeod (13 assists)
Finals MVP 1975 Stewart Jump 1976 Clyde Best (indoor) 1979–80 ???? (indoor)
Regionals MVP 1975 Ringo Cantillo (indoor) 1976 Stewart Scullion (indoor)
Coach of the Year 1976 Eddie Firmani
Rookie of the Year 1982 Pedro DeBrito 1983 Gregg Thompson 1984 Roy Wegerle
North American Player of the Year 1976 Arnie Mausserhttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=af4sAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qswFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4321,2439347&dq=mausser+player+of+year&hl=en
FIFA World Cup players Adrian Alston (1974) Carlos Babington (1974) Clodoaldo (1970) Antônio Lima dos Santos (1966) Mirandinha (1974) Terry Moore (1986) did not play Eduardo Bonvallet (1982) Manny Rojas (1982) Arsène Auguste (1974) Hugo Pérez (1994) Roy Wegerle (1994, 1998)
NASL All-time Leaders Consecutive regular season starts: Mike Connell (179) Career games by a US-born player: Arnie Mausser (224)
All-Star first team selections 1975 Farrukh Quraishi 1976 Rodney Marsh, Arnie Mausser, Tommy Smith 1977 Derek Smethurst 1978 Rodney Marsh 1979 Mike Connell 1980 Mike Connell 1981 John Gorman 1982 Peter Nogly
All-Star second team selections 1975 John Boyle, Stewart Jump, Stewart Scullion 1976 Stewart Jump, Stewart Scullion, Derek Smethurst 1977 Arsène Auguste, Rodney Marsh, Steve Wegerle 1978 Arsène Auguste, Steve Wegerle 1979 Óscar Fabbiani, John Gorman 1980 Steve Wegerle
All-Star honorable mentions 1975 Clyde Best, John Sissons, Derek Smethurst 1979 Rodney Marsh, Steve Wegerle 1980 John Gorman 1982 Mike Connell 1983 Gregg Thompson 1984 Gregg Thompson
Indoor All-Stars 1975 Doug Wark (All-Tournament Team) 1976 Clyde Best (All-Tournament Team) 1976 Derek Smethurst (All-Tournament Team) 1976 Stewart Scullion (All-Tournament Team) 1976 Arsène Auguste (All-Eastern Regional Team) 1976 Rodney Marsh (All-Eastern Regional Team) 1976 Stewart Scullion (All-Eastern Regional Team) 1980–81 Steve Wegerle (All-East Team) 1981–82 Tatu (Atlantic)https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fYBXAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tjsNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6819,8303699&dq=rowdies+indoor+all+star&hl=en 1981–82 Mike Connell (Atlantic) 1981–82 Jürgen Stars (Atlantic) 1981–82 John Gorman (2nd team) 1983–84 Frantz Mathieu (reserve) 1983–84 Mike Connell (reserve)
U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame members 1992 Lamar Hunt (owner/executive) 1995 Al Miller 2003 Arnie Mausser 2008 Hugo Pérez 2015 Glenn Myernick 2024 Francisco Marcos (executive)
Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame members 2004 Bob Bolitho 2005 Wes McLeod 2005 Terry Moore 2008 Jack Brand
Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame members 2012 Tatu 2013 Gordon Jago
Other National Halls of Fame 2000 Adrian Alston (Australia)
Head coaches CoachTenureLeagueCup^IndoorIndoor Cup^Totals* Eddie Firmani 1977–1984 41–15 3–1 4–0 3–1 51–17 Lenny Glover (interim) 1977 0–1 – – – 0–1 John Boyle 1977 7–8 0–1 – – 7–9 Gordon Jago 1978–1982 81–56 17–9 28–20 11–5 137–90 Kevin Keelan (interim) 1982 0–1 – – – 0–1 Al Miller 1982–1983 9–30 0–0 4–2 2–0 15–32 Rodney Marsh 1983–1984 9–15 – 9–23 – 18–38 *Excludes friendlies. ^Cup includes playoff games and mini-games.http://www.nasljerseys.com
Team captains