Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–83)

For other uses, see Fort Lauderdale Strikers (disambiguation).

Fort Lauderdale Strikers

Full name	Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Founded	1977
Dissolved	1983
Stadium	Lockhart Stadium Fort Lauderdale, Florida West Palm Beach Auditorium (indoor 1979-80) West Palm Beach, Florida Hollywood Sportatorium (indoor 1980-81) Pembroke Pines, Florida (capacity: 20,450/15,532 (indoor))
League	North American Soccer League
Home colors Away colors

Fort Lauderdale Strikers was an American soccer team, a descendant of the Washington Darts, Miami Gatos, and Miami Toros, that played in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The Strikers were members of the North American Soccer League from 1977 to its penultimate year, 1983. They also played two NASL indoor seasons in 1979–1980 and 1980–1981 and the 1983 NASL Grand Prix of Indoor Soccer tournament. They were owned by Joe Robbie who also owned the Miami Dolphins.

Major signers

The first major signing for Ft Lauderdale was England goalkeeping legend Gordon Banks. Banks was the top keeper in the league his first year despite being blind in one eye.

The legendary George Best signed for the Strikers midway through the 1978 season after falling out with the management at the Los Angeles Aztecs. Best played for the rest of the 1978 season and the whole of 1979's campaign.

In 1979 the Strikers signed Peruvian legend Teófilo Cubillas, who would play with the club until their departure for Minnesota in 1983. 1979 was a bumper year for the Strikers as they also acquired German centre forward Gerd Müller. These former World Cup stars helped the Strikers reach the Soccer Bowl, the NASL's championship match, in 1980 where they lost to the New York Cosmos 3–0.

Moved

After the 1983 season, the Strikers were moved to Minnesota and became the Minnesota Strikers. That club survived the end of the NASL by joining the Major Indoor Soccer League in 1984, but did eventually fold in 1988.

Year-by-year

Year	Record	Regular Season Finish	Playoffs
1977	19–7	1st, Eastern Division, American Conference	Divisional Playoff
1978	16–14	3rd, Eastern Division, American Conference	American Conference Finals
1979	17–13	2nd, Eastern Division, American Conference	American Conference Quarterfinals
1980	18–14	2nd, Eastern Division, American Conference	Runners-up
1981	18–14	2nd, Southern Division	Semifinals
1982	18–14	1st, Southern Division	Semifinals
1983	14–16	2nd, Southern Division	Quarterfinals

Honors

NASL Championships

• runner-up (1980)

Regular Season Titles

• 1977 (19-7 • 161 points)

Division Titles

• 1977 Eastern Division, Atlantic Conference
• 1982 Southern Division

Coach of the Year

• 1977 Ron Newman

All-Star First Team Selections

• 1977 Gordon Banks
• 1980 Teófilo Cubillas
• 1981 Teófilo Cubillas, Jan van Beveren
• 1983 Jan van Beveren

All-Star Second Team Selections

• 1978 Ray Hudson
• 1979 Teófilo Cubillas, Gerd Müller
• 1982 Teófilo Cubillas, Jan van Beveren

All-Star Honorable Mentions

• 1978 George Best, Maurice Whittle
• 1980 Ray Hudson, Jan van Beveren
• 1982 Ray Hudson, Branko Segota
• 1983 Ray Hudson, Bruce Miller

Head coaches

• Ron Newman (1977–1979)
• Cor van der Hart (1980)
• Eckhard Krautzun (1981–1982)
• David Chadwick (1983–1984)

Yearly Average Attendance

• 1977 – 8,148
• 1978 – 10,479
• 1979 – 13,774
• 1980 – 14,360
• 1981 – 13,324
• 1982 – 12,345
• 1983 – 10,823

See also

• Fort Lauderdale Strikers competing in the NASL
• Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1994-1997)
• Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988-1994)
• Miami Fusion Now defunct MLS team (1997–2001)

External links

• A page devoted to the history of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers
• A blog for Fort Lauderdale Striker fans