Tampa Bay Rowdies

Full name	Tampa Bay Rowdies
Nickname(s)	Rowdies
Founded	1975
Dissolved	1993
Ground	Tampa Stadium (Capacity: 71,000)
Chairman	Beau Rogers Harry Mangurian
Coach	Eddie Firmani, Rodney Marsh
League	North American Soccer League
Home colours Away colours

The Tampa Bay Rowdies was a professional soccer team from Tampa, Florida, USA. The team played in the North American Soccer League until the league's dissolution and went on to play in several other leagues before folding in 1993. The Rowdies played their outdoor home games at Tampa Stadium and their indoor games at the Bayfront Center Arena in nearby St. Petersburg, Florida.

Contents 1 NASL: 1975-1984 1.1 Year-by-year 1.2 NASL Indoor Soccer 1.3 Players 1.4 Head Coaches 1.5 Honors 1.6 Yearly Average Attendance 2 Independent: 1985-1986 3 AISA: 1986-1987 3.1 Year-by-year 3.2 1986-1987 Roster 4 ASL/APSL: 1988-1993 4.1 Year-by-year 4.2 Coaches 4.3 Honors 4.4 Notable Players 5 References 6 External links

[edit] NASL: 1975-1984

Originally founded as a North American Soccer League expansion franchise in 1975 by George Strawbridge, the Rowdies played ten seasons at Tampa Stadium and won their only Soccer Bowl championship in their inaugural season defeating the Portland Timbers 2-0. The Rowdies lost in the finals in 1978 and 1979. The team showcased international stars such as midfield captain Rodney Marsh (England), league leading goal scorer Oscar Fabbiani, swift and lethal forward Steve Wegerle (South Africa), rock-solid defenseman Arsene Auguste (Haiti), and popular player and high goal-scoring Derek Smethurst (South Africa). Coached by Eddie Firmani, John Boyle, and Gordon Jago, their catch phrase and marketing slogan was "The Rowdies arrrre...a kick in the grass!"

Fans of the Rowdies were dubbed Fannies. The most famous Fannies were the notorious North End Zone Gang (AKA the Ozone, the Yellow Card Section, The Mooners and the Village Idiots). The gang of college aged beer swilling fans were known for their wild antics, including throwing dead mullets dressed in mini Ft. Lauderdale Strikers uniforms onto the field.

After the 1983 season, the team was sold to Stella Thayer, Bob Blanchard and Dick Corbett.

On June 18, 2008, it was a revealed that a new Tampa Bay Rowdies team would play in the new second division NASL in 2010. Plans to build a new stadium in Tampa are in development. ^{[1] [2]}

[edit] Year-by-year

Year	Record	Regular Season Finish	Playoffs	Leading Goal Scorers
1975	16-6	1st, Eastern Division	NASL Champions	Derek Smethurst-18, Stewart Scullion-7, John Sissons-5
1976	18-6	1st, Eastern Division, Atlantic Conference	Atlantic Conference Championship	Derek Smethurst-20, Rodney Marsh-11, Stewart Scullion-10, Clyde Best-9
1977	14-12	3rd, Eastern Division, Atlantic Conference	Divisional Playoffs	Derek Smethurst-19, Rodney Marsh-8, Steve Wegerle-5
1978	18-12	1st, Eastern Division, American Conference	Runners-up	Rodney Marsh-18, Dave Robb-16
1979	19-11	1st, Eastern Division, American Conference	Runners-up	Oscar Fabbiani-25, Rodney Marsh-11,
1980	19-13	1st, Eastern Division, American Conference	American Conference Semifinals	Steve Wegerle-9
1981	15-17	4th, Southern Division	Quarterfinals	Frank Worthington-11
1982	12-20	3rd, Southern Division	Did Not Qualify	Luis Fernando-16
1983	7-23	3rd, Southern Division	Did Not Qualify	Manny Rojas-8
1984	9-15	4th, Eastern Division	Did Not Qualify	Roy Wegerle, Neill Roberts-9

[edit] NASL Indoor Soccer

In 1975, the NASL ran an indoor tournament entered by only four teams. The Rowdies finished second to the San Jose Earthquakes. The NASL did not hold an indoor season until 1979 when the Rowdies won the championship. The last NASL indoor season took place in 1983-1984 and the Rowdies finished last out of the seven teams.

Year	Record	Regular Season Finish	Playoffs
1975	1-1	2nd	Final
1979-1980	8-4	2nd, Eastern Division	NASL Champions
1980-1981	9-9	2nd, Eastern Division	Did not qualify
1981-1982	11-7	2nd Central Division, American Conference	Runners-up
1983-1984	9-23	7th	Did not qualify

[edit] Players

Argentina

• Oscar Fabbiani (1979)
• Carlos Babington (1982)

Brazil

• Mirandinha (1978-79)
• Zequinha (1982-83)

England

• Sam Allardyce (1983)
• Peter Anderson (1978-80)
• Manny Andruszewski (1979-80)
• Paul Hammond (1975,1977-78) [1]
• Nicky Johns (1978)
• Stewart Jump (1975-77) [2]
• Kevin Keelan (1981)
• Tony Kinsella (1981) [3]
• Mark Lindsay (1975-77,1984) [4]
• Rodney Marsh (1976-1979)
• Don McAllister (1984)
• Graham Paddon (1978)
• Stewart Scullion (1975-76)
• Frank Worthington (1981) 26 apps 11 goals
• Terry Rowe
• Paul Tolley (1992-1993) 8 apps 3 goals

Scotland

• Iain Anderson (1977-1981)
• John Gorman (1979-82)
• Mike Hewitt (1975) [5]
• Davie Robb (1977-78) [6]

South Africa

• Mike Connell
• Neill Roberts (1980-1981)
• Steve Wegerle (1977-1981,1984)

[edit] Head Coaches

• Eddie Firmani 1975 - 1977
• John Boyle 1977
• Gordon Jago 1978 - 1982
• Al Miller 1983
• Rodney Marsh 1984-1987
• Ken Fogarty 1989-1993

[edit] Honors

NASL Championships

• 1975

Division Titles

• 1975 Eastern Division
• 1976 Eastern Division, Atlantic Conference
• 1978 Eastern Division, American Conference
• 1979 Eastern Division, American Conference
• 1980 Eastern Division, American Conference

Coach of the Year

• 1976 Eddie Firmani

Rookie of the Year

• 1982 Pedro DeBrito
• 1983 Gregg Thompson
• 1984 Roy Wegerle

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 Arsene Auguste, Rodney Marsh, Steve Wegerle
• 1978 Arsene Auguste, Steve Wegerle
• 1979 Oscar 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

[edit] Yearly Average Attendance

• 1975 - 10,728
• 1976 - 16,452
• 1977 - 19,491
• 1978 - 18,123
• 1979 - 27,650
• 1980 - 28,345
• 1981 - 22,532
• 1982 - 22,532
• 1983 - 18,507
• 1984 - 10,932

[edit] Independent: 1985-1986

After the demise of the NASL in 1984, Cornelia Corbett became sole owner of the team in 1986. With Rodney Marsh as coach, the Rowdies operated as an independent team for two years before joining the American Indoor Soccer Association for one season (1986-87).

[edit] AISA: 1986-1987

[edit] Year-by-year

Year	League	Regular Season	Playoffs	U.S. Open Cup
1986/87	AISA	3rd, Southern	Quarterfinals	N/A

[edit] 1986-1987 Roster

• Steve Wegerle 35 Apps 26 Goals
• Arnie Mausser 35 Apps 0 Goals
• Winston DuBose
• Peter Roe
• Nathan Sacks
• Tim Walters
• Glenn Ervine
• Duncan MacEwan

[edit] ASL/APSL: 1988-1993

In the summer of 1988, the Rowdies joined the third incarnation of the American Soccer League. They would stay in this league and its successor (the APSL) until they folded after the 1993 season.

[edit] Year-by-year

Year	League	Regular Season	Playoffs	U.S. Open Cup
1988	ASL	3rd, Southern	Did not qualify	Did not enter
1989	ASL	1st, Southern	Semifinals	Did not enter
1990	APSL	2nd, ASL South	ASL Semifinals	Did not enter
1991	APSL	3rd, American	Did not qualify	Did not enter
1992	APSL	2nd	Final	Did not enter
1993	APSL	3rd	Semifinals	Did not enter

[edit] Coaches

• Ricky Hill: 1992
• Ken Fogarty: 1993

[edit] Honors

Leading Scorer

• 1992: Jean Harbor

Top Goalkeeper

• 1988: Winston DuBose

Coach of the Year

• 1992: Ricky Hill
• 1993: Ken Fogarty

First Team All Star

• 1988: Winston DuBose, Steve Wegerle
• 1989: Winston DuBose, Steve Trittschuh, Steve Wegerle
• 1990: David Byrne
• 1992: Bill Andracki, Steve Trittschuh, Ricky Hill, Kevin Sloan, Jean Harbor
• 1993: Paul Dougherty

[edit] Notable Players

• Peter Barnes (1990)
• Paul Dougherty (1993)
• Ken Fogarty (1989-93) [7]
• Ricky Hill (1992) 16 apps 1 goal
• Terry Rowe (1991-93)
• Rodney Marsh (1977-79)
• Tommy Langley (1989)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• "official" Tampa Bay Rowdies site
• Rowdies history