Minnesota Strikers

Minnesota Strikers

Full name	Minnesota Strikers
Nickname(s)	Strikers
Founded	1984 (Previously Fort Lauderdale Strikers)
Dissolved	1988 (rebranded to Fort Lauderdale Strikers)
Ground	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Met Center
Capacity	62,000 15,000
Coach	David Chadwick 1984 NASL Alan Merrick1984–88 MISL
League	North American Soccer League Major Indoor Soccer League
Home colors Away colors

The Minnesota Strikers were an American professional soccer team located in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. The team played one season (1984) in the North American Soccer League and 4 seasons (1984 to 1988) in the Major Indoor Soccer League.

The Minnesota Strikers' history begins on November 30, 1983, when the Fort Lauderdale Strikers announced they were relocating to Minnesota (three seasons after the Minnesota Kicks folded) for the 1984 NASL season. The team played that year in the North American Soccer League at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, but the league collapsed at the end of the season. The team survived, however, moving indoors and joining the Major Indoor Soccer League. The team played four seasons in the MISL, folding after the 1987–88 season. The team played at Met Center during the MISL years.

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Reg. Season	Playoffs	Open Cup	Avg. Attend.
1984	1	NASL	3rd, Western	Did not qualify	Did not enter	14,262
1984–85	N/A	MISL	4th, Eastern	Semifinals	N/A	4,809
1985–86	N/A	MISL	2nd, Eastern	Runners-up	N/A	6,503
1986–87	N/A	MISL	4th, Eastern	Division Semifinals	N/A	6,977
1987–88	N/A	MISL	1st, Eastern	Division Finals	N/A	5,930

International Friendlies

Date	Visitor	Score	Host	Venue	Location	Attendance
May 23, 1984	AFC Ajax	4–2	Minnesota Strikers	Metrodome	Minneapolis, Minnesota	6,079
June 13, 1984	Glasgow Rangers	2–5	Minnesota Strikers	Metrodome	Minneapolis, Minnesota	6,866

Honors

Championships

• 1985–86 -runners up

Division Titles

• 1987–88 Eastern Division

U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame

• 2003 Joe and Elizabeth Robbie, Alan Willey

Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame

• 2001 Tino Lettieri
• 2002 Mike Sweeney
• 2004 Bob Bolitho
• 2008 John McGrane

MISL All-Star Game participants

• 1987 Gary Etherington, Tino Lettieri, Thompson Usiyan
• 1988 David Byrne, Steve Kinsey, Hector Marinaro

Newcomer of the Year

• 1986–87 Steve Kinsey

League Leading Goal Scorer

• 1987–88 Hector Marinaro (58 goals)

League Leading Goaltender

• 1986–87 Tino Lettieri (GAA: 3.38)

All-League First Team Selections

• 1984 Ray Hudson

All-League Second Team Selections

• 1984 Dwight Lodeweges & Alan Willey
• 1986–87 Tino Lettieri

All-League Honorable Mentions

• 1984 Barry Wallace

1984 (NASL)

Ricardo Alonso , John Bain , Bob Bolitho , Ben Collins , Bill Crook , Peter Daniel , Gary Etherington , Ken Fogarty , Jan Goossens , Ray Hudson , Godfrey Ingram , Mike Jeffries , Brian Kidd , Tino Lettieri , Terry Leiendecker , Dwight Lodeweges , John McGrane , Robert Meschbach , Bruce Miller , Paul Price , Thomas Rongen , Craig Scarpelli , Carl Strong , Barry Wallace , Alan Willey

1984–85 (MISL)

Ricardo Alonso , John Bain , Ben Collins , Bill Crook , Chris Dangerfield , Drago Dumbović , Gary Etherington , Ken Fogarty , Jan Goossens , Ray Hudson , Mike Jeffries , Matt Kennedy , Tino Lettieri , Steve Litt , Dwight Lodeweges , John McGrane , Bruce Miller , Thomas Rongen , Craig Scarpelli , Gregg Thompson , Thompson Usiyan , Barry Wallace , Alan Willey

1985–86 (MISL)

Tony Bono , David Byrne , Dan Canter , Stan Cummins , Chris Dangerfield , Drago Dumbović , Gary Etherington , Ken Fogarty , Jan Goossens , Ray Hudson , Bill Irwin , Mike Jeffries , Matt Kennedy , Tasso Koutsoukos , Tino Lettieri , Dwight Lodeweges , Bruce Miller , Kazbek Tambi , Gregg Thompson , Thompson Usiyan , Alan Willey

1986–87 (MISL)

Tony Bono , David Byrne , Dan Canter , Stan Cummins , Chris Dangerfield , Enzo Di Pede , Helmut Dudek , Gary Etherington , Ken Fogarty , Ray Hudson , Greg Ion , Mike Jeffries , Matt Kennedy , Steve Kinsey , Tasso Koutsoukos , Tino Lettieri , Dwight Lodeweges , Hector Marinaro , John O'Hara , Gregg Thompson , Thompson Usiyan , Alan Willey ; Elizabeth Robbie, President; Chris Wright, General Manager, Tim Robbie, Executive Vice President; Alan Merrick, Head Coach; Bruce Miller, Assistant Coach.

1987-88 (MISL)

Jerry Adzic , Tony Bono , Alex Bunbury , David Byrne , Stan Cummins , Chris Dangerfield , Gary Etherington , George Gelnovatch , Tom Gleason , Tim Harris , Ray Hudson , Steve Kinsey , Tino Lettieri , Dwight Lodeweges , Hector Marinaro , John O'Hara , Neill Roberts , Troy Snyder , Mike Sweeney , Gregg Thompson , Alan Willey ; Elizabeth Robbie, President; Chris Wright, General Manager, Tim Robbie, Executive Vice President; Alan Merrick, Head Coach; Bruce Miller, Assistant Coach.

NASL coach

• David Chadwick 1984

Coach (MISL)

• Alan Merrick (1984–88)

Strikers NASL Draft

1984

Round	Player	School
1	Greg Kennedy	Indiana
2	Ronil Dufrene	Florida International
3	David McDaniel	Duke

Strikers MISL Drafts

1985

Round	Player	School
1	Paul DiBernardo	Indiana University
2	Peter Sawkins	Yale University
3	Tony Bono	Drexel University
4	Bruce Bellinger	Southern Illinois-Edwardsville

1986

Round	Player	School
2	Peter Smith	University of Tampa
3	Paul Schojan	Rochester Institute of Technology
4	Andy Pantason	University of Connecticut
4	Tony Scheuerman	Stillwater High School

1987

Round	Player	School
1	Brent Goulet	Warner Pacific University
3	George Gelnovatch	University of Virginia
4	Troy Snyder	Penn State University

Media

Radio

• 1984 (NASL) KRSI-950 AM
• 1984–85 (MISL) WWTC-1280 AM
• 1987–88 (MISL) KSNE-1280 AM

Television

• 1984 (NASL) KITN 29

See also

• Washington Darts 1970–71
• Miami Gatos 1972
• Miami Toros 1973–76
• Fort Lauderdale Strikers 1977–83
• 1984 Minnesota Strikers season
• Minnesota Kicks (1976–81)
• Minnesota Thunder (1990–2009)
• Minnesota United FC (2010-pres.)