The Washington Diplomats were an American soccer club based in Washington, D.C. The club was formed in 1974 when the North American Soccer League (NASL), itself founded in 1968, granted a franchise to a Washington, D.C. based business group. The team played all their home games at RFK Stadium in 1974, but in 1975 and 1976 they played most of their games at W.T. Woodson High School in Northern Virginia, including all of their 1976 games. They played indoor home matches at the neighboring D.C. Armory. [1] [2] After a lackluster beginning to the franchise, the Diplomats qualified for the playoffs and increased average game attendance in each of their last three years of existence. Additionally, in their final year, the Diplomats were able to sign the future European Player of the Century Johan Cruyff. After the 1980 season the Diplomats folded when then owner, the Madison Square Garden Corp., had accumulated losses of $6 million and team president Steve Danzansky could not gather enough money to keep the team alive. [3]
After the original Diplomats folded following the 1980 season, the Detroit Express moved to Washington to become the new Diplomats. This team only lasted for one season.
Below is a non-exhaustive list of players who played at least one league match for the Diplomats.
| Country | Number of players |
|---|---|
 Bermuda | 2 |
 Bolivia | 1 |
 Brazil | 1 |
 Canada | 6 |
 England | 23 |
 West Germany | 1 |
 Ghana | 1 |
 Greece | 1 |
 Hungary | 1 |
 Ireland | 4 |
 Jamaica | 1 |
 Netherlands | 4 |
 Northern Ireland | 1 |
 Scotland | 7 |
 South Africa | 1 |
 Spain | 1 |
 Trinidad and Tobago | 2 |
 United States | 17 |
 Wales | 2 |
 Yugoslavia | 2 |
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It was the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the United States. The league final was called the Soccer Bowl from 1975 to 1983 and the Soccer Bowl Series in its final year, 1984. The league was headed by Commissioner Phil Woosnam from 1969 to 1983. The NASL laid the foundations for soccer in the United States that helped lead to the country hosting the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the set-up of Major League Soccer (MLS) in 1996.
The Fort Lauderdale Strikers was a professional soccer team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1977 to 1983. They played their home matches at Lockhart Stadium.
The San Diego Sockers were a soccer and indoor soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team played in the indoor and outdoor editions of the North American Soccer League (NASL) until 1984 as well as the original Major Indoor Soccer League and CISL. The franchise folded in 1996 and was the last surviving NASL franchise.
The Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984) were a North American Soccer League (NASL) team from Tulsa, Oklahoma. It played its home games at Skelly Stadium on the campus of the University of Tulsa. The team, previously Team Hawaii, moved to Tulsa after the 1977 season. In 1983, Alex Skotarek became general manager and led one of the lowest-budgeted teams in the NASL to a championship, defeating Toronto, 2-0, at Soccer Bowl '83.
The Los Angeles Aztecs was an American professional soccer team based in Los Angeles, California that existed from 1974 to 1981. The Aztecs competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1974 to 1981 as well as the 1975 NASL Indoor tournament, the 1979-80 and 1980–81 NASL Indoor seasons, and won the NASL Championship in 1974. During their eight years of existence, the Aztecs played at four different venues and were controlled by four different ownership groups, European football legends George Best and Johan Cruyff played for the team, and from 1975 to 1977 English singer Elton John was a part-owner.
The Washington Diplomats were an American soccer club based in Washington, D.C. Throughout their existence, the club played their home games at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium and indoor home matches at the neighboring D.C. Armory. Founded as an expansion franchise in 1974, the Diplomats competed in the now-defunct North American Soccer League, then the top-tier soccer league of the American soccer pyramid.
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The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons.
The Detroit Express was a soccer team based in suburban Detroit that played in the now defunct North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 to 1980. Its home field was the Pontiac Silverdome. The Express were co-owned by Jimmy Hill, Roger Faulkner, Sonny VanArnem, and Gary Lemmen. Jimmy Hill who was also the managing director and chairman of the English club Coventry City. The team was coached by Ken Furphy.
In Major League Soccer, several teams annually compete for secondary rivalry cups that are usually contested by only two teams, with the only exceptions being the Cascadia Cup and the new Copa Tejas, which are contested by three MLS teams, each. Each cup or trophy is awarded to the eligible team with the better regular season record and are comparable to minor trophies played for in college football rivalries. Most cups are deliberately conceived as local derbies between teams in the same region. Rivalry cups are considered a tradition to most MLS fans and players alike. Out of the ten original MLS teams only three have not competed in these rivalry cups: Sporting K.C., New England Revolution and the defunct Tampa Bay Mutiny. The Texas Derby is the only MLS rivalry where the winner does not walk away with a cup trophy but instead they play for "El Capitán", a replica 18th century mountain howitzer cannon. Some derbies only contest for bragging rights of rival supporters groups.
Alan Mayer is an American retired soccer goalkeeper. He played professionally in the North American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League and earned six caps with the United States men's national soccer team.
The original Vancouver Whitecaps were a professional soccer team founded on December 11, 1973. During the 1970s and 1980s they played in the North American Soccer League (NASL).
Gordon Bradley was an English-American soccer midfielder born and raised on Wearside who played several seasons with lower-division English clubs before moving to play in Canada at the age of 30. During the Canadian off-season, he played and coached in the U.S.-based German American Soccer League. In 1971, he became a player and head coach for the New York Cosmos. In addition to coaching the Cosmos, he has coached the U.S. national team and at the collegiate and high school levels. Bradley also earned one cap with the U.S. national team in 1973. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
John Stremlau is a retired U.S. soccer player who played five seasons in the North American Soccer League and at least six in the Major Indoor Soccer League.
The Seattle Sounders were a U.S. professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1974, the team belonged to the North American Soccer League where it played both indoor and outdoor soccer. The team folded after the 1983 NASL outdoor season.
Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1980. This was the 13th season of the NASL.
Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1981. This was the 14th season of the NASL.
The Fort Lauderdale–Tampa Bay rivalry, also known as the Florida Derby, refers to the suspended soccer rivalry that most recently involved the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and the Tampa Bay Rowdies, both of whom played in the North American Soccer League through the 2016 season. Over the years the rivalry has spanned more than one hundred matches across eight soccer leagues and several tournaments, and involved nine different teams from the two regions of Florida. At times it has involved players, coaches, management and fans. Even the press has fanned the rivalry's flames at times. From 2010 through 2014, the winner of the regular season series automatically won the Coastal Cup as well. The status of the rivalry beyond 2016 remains unclear because the Rowdies have since joined the United Soccer League, while the Strikers ongoing ownership and legal battles of 2016 and 2017 have left them defunct.
Over the course of three weekends in March 1976, the North American Soccer League hosted its second league-wide indoor soccer tournament. Twelve of the twenty NASL teams participated.
