Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983)

Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Full name	Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Founded	1977; (Previously Miami Toros)
Dissolved	1983; (rebranded as Minnesota Strikers)
Ground	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)
Owner	Elizabeth Robbie
League	North American Soccer League
Home colors	Away colors

The Fort Lauderdale Strikers were an American soccer team, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1977 to 1983. They played their home games at Lockhart Stadium.

The franchise was founded as the Washington Darts in 1967 and moved to the Miami metropolitan area in 1972, where they were known as the Miami Gatos (1972) and the Miami Toros (1973–1976) before moving to Fort Lauderdale. In addition to their time in the NASL outdoor league, the Strikers also played two NASL indoor seasons in 1979–80 and 1980–81,^[1] and competed in the 1983 NASL Grand Prix of Indoor Soccer tournament. They were owned by Miami Dolphins owner Joe Robbie and his wife Elizabeth Robbie. In 1984 they relocated to Minnesota as the Minnesota Strikers. Their first ever game was an indoor exhibition match with their cross-state rival the Tampa Bay Rowdies on February 27, 1977^[2]

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	Avg. Attend.
1977	19–7	1st, Eastern Division, American Conference	Divisional Playoff	8,148
1978	16–14	3rd, Eastern Division, American Conference	American Conference Finals	10,479
1979 indoor	0–2	4th, Budweiser Invitational^[3]	n/a
1979	17–13	2nd, Eastern Division, American Conference	American Conference Quarterfinals	13,774
1979–80 indoor	3–9	4th, Eastern Division	n/a	2,069
1980	18–14	2nd, Eastern Division, American Conference	Runners-up	14,360
1980–81 indoor	1–17	4th, Eastern Division	n/a	1,699
1981	18–14	2nd, Southern Division	Semifinals	13,345
1982	18–14	1st, Southern Division	Semifinals	12,345
1983 indoor	2–8	4th, Indoor Grand Prix	n/a
1983	14–16	2nd, Southern Division	Quarterfinals	10,823

Honors

NASL Championships^[4]

1980 runner-up

Regular Season Titles^[5]

1977 (19–7 • 161 points)

Division Titles^[6]

1977 Eastern Division, Atlantic Conference
1982 Southern Division

Coach of the Year^[7]

1977 Ron Newman

U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame^[8]

1992 Ron Newman
2003 Arnie Mausser, Joe & Elizabeth Robbie

Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame^[9]

2002 Branko Šegota
2004 Bob Bolitho

Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame^[10]

2012 Ron Newman, Branko Šegota
2014 Bruce Savage^[11]

All-Star First Team Selections^[12]

All-Star Second Team Selections^[13]

All-Star Honorable Mentions^[14]

Head coaches

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

References

^ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19820629&id=6vwtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=580FAAAAIBAJ&pg=2393,5044373
^ "The Evening Independent - Google News Archive Search". google.com. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
^ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rsEwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3VgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6654,3317860&dq=rowdies+had+to+do+more&hl=en
^ http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/
^ http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/
^ http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/
^ http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/
^ http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/hall.html
^ http://www.thesoccerhalloffame.ca/
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-10-23. Retrieved 2014-01-11. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ http://www.indoorsoccerhall.com/
^ https://web.archive.org/web/20080501104955/http://home.att.net/~nasl/nasl.htm
^ https://web.archive.org/web/20080501104955/http://home.att.net/~nasl/nasl.htm
^ https://web.archive.org/web/20080501104955/http://home.att.net/~nasl/nasl.htm

External links

[1] ttps://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19820629&id=6vwtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=580FAAAAIBAJ&pg=2393,5044373

[2] "The Evening Independent - Google News Archive Search". google.com. Retrieved 23 January 2015.

[3] ttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rsEwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3VgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6654,3317860&dq=rowdies+had+to+do+more&hl=en

[4] ttp://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/

[5] ttp://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/

[6] ttp://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/

[7] ttp://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/

[8] ttp://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/hall.html

[9] ttp://www.thesoccerhalloffame.ca/

[10] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-10-23. Retrieved 2014-01-11. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[11] ttp://www.indoorsoccerhall.com/

[12] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080501104955/http://home.att.net/~nasl/nasl.htm

[13] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080501104955/http://home.att.net/~nasl/nasl.htm

[14] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080501104955/http://home.att.net/~nasl/nasl.htm

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v t e North American Soccer League (1968–1984)
Broadcasters USSF CSA Portal NASL (2011–2017) First overall draft picks
Seasons	1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
Soccer Bowls	1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
Predecessors	USA 1967 Final NPSL 1967 Final
Indoor seasons	1971 1975 1976 1978 1979 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1983 1983–84
Conferences	1968 East West 1976–1977 Atlantic Pacific 1978–1980 American National
Related	Soccer Bowl broadcasters NASL Indoor Championship
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† United Soccer Association team that did not join NASL upon merger with NPSL ‡ National Professional Soccer League team that did not join NASL upon merger with USA