1975 Tampa Bay Rowdies season

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Creativewill (talk | contribs) at 00:01, 3 October 2016 (kit). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Tampa Bay Rowdies
1975 season
PresidentUnited States George W. Strawbridge, Jr.
ManagerItaly Eddie Firmani
StadiumTampa Stadium
NASLDivision: 1st
Playoffs: Champions
U.S. Open CupDid not enter
Top goalscorerLeague:
South Africa Derek Smethurst (18 goals)
All:
South Africa Derek Smethurst (21 goals)
Highest home attendance22,710
(Aug. 17 vs. Miami)
Lowest home attendance5,281
(May 28 vs. Denver)
Average home league attendance12,064
← first season
1976 →

The 1975 Tampa Bay Rowdies season was the first season of the club's existence.

Club

No. Position Player Nation
1 GK Paul Hammond  England
1 GK Mike Hewitt  Scotland
1 GK Bob Stetler  United States
2 DF Farrukh Quraishi  England
3 DF Alex Pringle  Scotland
4 MF John Boyle (capt.)  Scotland
5 DF Malcolm Linton  England
6 DF Mike Connell  South Africa
7 MF Bernard Hartze  South Africa
8 MF Randy Garber  United States
9 FW Clyde Best  Bermuda
10 FW Stewart Scullion  Scotland
11 FW Doug Wark  Scotland
12 FW Derek Smethurst  South Africa
13 DF Stewart Jump  England
14 FW John Sissons  England
15 MF Mark Linday  England
16 DF John Bluem  United States
17 FW Eddie Austin  United States
18 DF Arsène Auguste  Haiti
18 MF Eddie Firmani  Italy

Review

The 1975 North American Soccer League season was the Tampa Bay Rowdies first outdoors. The expansion Rowdies had only recently completed a successful debut in the 1975 indoor tournament, by finishing as runners-up. With Eddie Firmani as coach and John Boyle as team captain, they opened outdoor play by splitting a pair of preseason friendlies versus the San Antonio Thunder.

Tampa Bay's first regular season match was played at Tampa Stadium against the Rochester Lancers before 12,133 paying customers (and another 3,000-plus, who were there for free). Their first ever goal was scored by Derek Smethurst in the opening half. The first goal conceded by the Rowdies occurred at the 27:59 mark when Tommy Ord put one past Tampa Bay goalie Mike Hewitt. The game remained tied 1–1 at the end of 90 minutes. At 3:45 of golden goal overtime, second-half substitute, Alex Pringle, recorded the teams' first ever game winning goal. The game also saw Firmani (age 41) insert himself into the lineup with about one minute remaining in regulation. This was because several players had been delayed in Europe, causing the Tampa Bay roster to be a bit thin for the match.[1]

The Rowdies success carried on as they went on to record winning streaks of six and seven games during the regular season. Tampa Bay finished the year tied with the Portland Timbers for the best record in the league with a mark of 16–6. The winning ways continued into the playoffs as they did not concede a single goal in any round. They defeated Toronto Metros-Croatia, 1–0, in the quarterfinals. That was followed by a 3–0 dismantling of 1974 league runners-up, and Florida Derby rival, Miami Toros in the semifinal, which sent them into the Soccer Bowl.

The Soccer Bowl '75 championship match featured the two teams with the best records in the NASL, the Rowdies and Portland. Coincidentally both squads were also expansion teams. Behind a stingy defense and a pair of second half goals by Arsène Auguste and Clyde Best, Tampa Bay came away the victors, 2–0. Defender Stewart Jump was named man of the match. This would be the Rowdies only outdoor NASL championship.

Competitions

NASL preseason friendlies

April 11, 1975 1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 2–1 San Antonio Thunder Tarpon Springs, Florida
7:30 P.M. Boyle
Smethurst 		Report p. 3-C Marotte Stadium: Tarpon Springs High School
April 13, 1975 2 Tampa Bay Rowdies 1–3 San Antonio Thunder Winter Park, Florida
1:30 P.M. Forteis o.g.' Report p. 3-C Wolf pen.'
Hylkema
Didi 		Stadium: Sandspur Field
Attendance: 2,000

NASL regular season

Standings

Pos Eastern Division GP W L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 22 16 6 46 27 +19 135 NASL Playoffs
2 Miami Toros 22 14 8 47 30 +17 123
3 Washington Diplomats 22 12 10 42 47 −5 112
4 Philadelphia Atoms 22 10 12 33 42 −9 90
5 Baltimore Comets 22 9 13 34 52 −18 87

Results summaries

Results by round

Match reports

April 26, 1975 1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 2–1 Rochester Lancers Tampa, Florida
Smethurst
Pringle 		Report Ord Stadium: Tampa Stadium
Attendance: 12,133
May 3, 1975 2 Tampa Bay Rowdies 1–0 New York Cosmos Tampa, Florida
Scullion Report Stadium: Tampa Stadium
Attendance: 8,378
May 9, 1975 3 Washington Diplomats 3–0 Tampa Bay Rowdies Washington, D.C.
Darrell
Horton
Ingram 		Report Stadium: Robert F. Kennedy Stadium
Attendance: 10,340
May 14, 1975 4 Tampa Bay Rowdies 3–1 Boston Minutemen Tampa, Florida
Smethurst
Best , 		Report Wooler Stadium: Tampa Stadium
Attendance: 6,117
May 17, 1975 5 Connecticut Bicentennials 1–3 Tampa Bay Rowdies New Haven, Connecticut
Travljanin Report Boyle
Best
Smethurst [2]		 Stadium: Yale Bowl
Attendance: 3,410
May 21, 1975 6 Baltimore Comets 1–2 Tampa Bay Rowdies Baltimore, Maryland
Henderson Report Boyle
Smethurst 		Stadium: Memorial Stadium
Attendance: 3,648
May 28, 1975 7 Tampa Bay Rowdies 3–2 Denver Dynamos Tampa, Florida
Ntsoelengoe[3] o.g.'
Scullion , 		Report Flater
Dawes 		Stadium: Tampa Stadium
Attendance: 5,281
May 31, 1975 8 San Antonio Thunder 0–4 Tampa Bay Rowdies San Antonio, Texas
Report Garber
Best
Hartze
Smethurst 		Stadium: Alamo Stadium
Attendance: 4,619
June 6, 1975 9 Miami Toros 0–1 Tampa Bay Rowdies Miami, Florida
Report Smethurst Stadium: Miami Orange Bowl
Attendance: 14,259
June 11, 1975 10 Tampa Bay Rowdies 0–2 Miami Toros Tampa, Florida
Report David
Jordan 		Stadium: Tampa Stadium
Attendance: 18,654
June 13, 1975 11 Philadelphia Atoms 1–2 Tampa Bay Rowdies Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Hope Report Best
Scullion 		Stadium: Veterans Stadium
Attendance: 5,819
June 20, 1975 12 Dallas Tornado 0–0
(W–L p)		 Tampa Bay Rowdies Irving, Texas
Report Stadium: Texas Stadium
Attendance: 4,179
June 21, 1975 13 St. Louis Stars 1–1
(L–W p)		 Tampa Bay Rowdies St. Louis, Missouri
Geimer Report Smethurst Stadium: Francis Field
Attendance: 7,731
June 28, 1975 14 Tampa Bay Rowdies 6–1 Baltimore Comets Tampa, Florida
Sissons , ,
Smethurst
Scullion , 		Report Henderson Stadium: Tampa Stadium
Attendance: 8,610
July 12, 1975 15 Tampa Bay Rowdies 4–0 Baltimore Comets Tampa, Florida
Sissons
Smethurst ,
Lindsay 		Report Stadium: Tampa Stadium
Attendance: 13,400
July 19, 1975 16 Tampa Bay Rowdies 2–1 Philadelphia Atoms Tampa, Florida
Smethurst , Report Bahr Stadium: Tampa Stadium
Attendance: 10,103
July 23, 1975 17 Tampa Bay Rowdies 5–1 Miami Toros Tampa, Florida
Smethurst ,
Best
Connell
Sissons 		Report David Stadium: Tampa Stadium
Attendance: 11,415
July 26, 1975 18 Tampa Bay Rowdies 3–1 Washington Diplomats Tampa, Florida
Smethurst
Boyle
Scullion 		Report Barry Stadium: Tampa Stadium
Attendance: 11,153
July 29, 1975 19 Philadelphia Atoms 0–1 Tampa Bay Rowdies Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Report Smethurst Stadium: Veterans Stadium
Attendance: 4,517
August 2, 1975 20 Washington Diplomats 3–1 Tampa Bay Rowdies Washington, D.C.
Horton ,
Ingram 		Report Smethurst Stadium: RFK Stadium
Attendance: 2,415
August 6, 1975 21 Tampa Bay Rowdies 0–3 Chicago Sting Tampa, Florida
Report Allen
Hill , 		Stadium: Tampa Stadium
Attendance: 12,761
August 9, 1975 22 Toronto Metros-Croatia 3–1 Tampa Bay Rowdies Toronto, Ontario
Vieri
Ferreira
Polak 		Report Smethurst Stadium: Varsity Stadium
Attendance: 8,248

NASL Playoffs

Bracket

Quarterfinals Semifinals Soccer Bowl '75
         
Portland Timbers (OT) 2
Seattle Sounders 1
Portland Timbers 1
St. Louis Stars 0
St. Louis Stars (OT) 1*
Los Angeles Aztecs 0
Portland Timbers 0
Tampa Bay Rowdies 2
Tampa Bay Rowdies 1
Toronto Metros-Croatia 0
Tampa Bay Rowdies 3
Miami Toros 0
Boston Minutemen 1
Miami Toros (OT) 2

* = Won coin-flip
Source:[4]

Match reports

August 12, 1975 Quarterfinals Tampa Bay Rowdies 1–0 Toronto Metros-Croatia Tampa, Florida
Best Report Stadium: Tampa Stadium
Attendance: 16,111
August 17, 1975 Semifinals Tampa Bay Rowdies 3–0 Miami Toros Tampa, Florida
Smethurst
Boyle
Scullion 		Report Stadium: Tampa Stadium
Attendance: 22,710
August 24, 1975 Soccer Bowl '75 Tampa Bay Rowdies 2–0 Portland Timbers San Jose, California
Auguste 66'
Best 88'		 Report Stadium: Spartan Stadium
Attendance: 17,009

Statistics

Transfers

See also

References

  1. ^ Austin, Jim (April 28, 1975). "Fans Rally For Rowdies". Evening Independent. p. 1-C. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  2. ^ "Boyle Selected Rowdie of Week". St. Petersburg Times. May 20, 1975. p. 7-C. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  3. ^ Austin, Jim (May 29, 1975). "Tampa Rains On Denver". Evening Independent. p. 1-C. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  4. ^ "The Year in American Soccer - 1975". American Soccer History Archives. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1975_Tampa_Bay_Rowdies_season&oldid=742312265"