1977 Tampa Bay Rowdies season

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Tampa Bay Rowdies
1977 season
Owner Flag of the United States.svg George W. Strawbridge, Jr.
General manager Flag of the United States.svg Beau Rodgers
Head coach Flag of Italy.svg Eddie Firmani (resigned July 3)
Flag of England.svg Len Glover (interim)
Flag of Scotland.svg John Boyle (hired July 9)
Stadium Tampa Stadium
NASL Division: 3rd
Playoffs: First round
U.S. Open Cup Did not enter
Top goalscorer Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Derek Smethurst (19 goals)
Highest home attendance45,288
(May 29 v. Cosmos)
Lowest home attendance8,398
(July 6 v. Washington)
Average home league attendance19,491
←  1976
1978  →

The 1977 season was the original Tampa Bay Rowdies third season of existence, and their third season in the North American Soccer League, the top division of soccer in the United States and Canada at that time.

Contents

Overview

The year would see the Rowdies host friendlies against teams from the Soviet Union, Italy and China. The team also took part in the preseason Tournament of Champions, finishing as runners-up. In the NASL season, the Rowdies finished with 131 points and a record of 14–12, which placed them third in the Eastern Division of the Atlantic Conference. The point total qualified them for the playoffs. They lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Cosmos, 3–0. For the second consecutive season Tampa Bay lost in the playoffs to the eventual champion. For the third consecutive season South African striker, Derek Smethurst lead the club in scoring with 19 goals. [1]

Club

Roster

No.PositionNationPlayer
1 GK Flag of England.svg  ENG Paul Hammond
2 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Farrukh Quraishi
3 MF Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Ian Anderson
3 DF Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Alex Pringle
4 DF Flag of Haiti.svg  HAI Arsène Auguste
5 DF Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  CAN Rino Agostinis
5 FW Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Davie Robb
6 DF Flag of South Africa.svg  RSA Mike Connell
7 FW Flag of South Africa.svg  RSA Steve Wegerle
8 MF Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  CAN Wes McLeod
9 FW Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS Adrian Alston
10 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Rodney Marsh
11 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Len Glover (capt.)
12 FW Flag of South Africa.svg  RSA Derek Smethurst
13 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Stewart Jump
14 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Joey Fink
15 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Mark Lindsay
16 MF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Dennis Wit
17 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Kevin Eagan
18 GK Flag of the United States.svg  USA Winston DuBose
19 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Frantz St. Lot
20 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Boris Bandov
22 DF Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg  YUG Radomir Stefanović
23 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Tony Crudo

Team management

Eddie Firmani began the season as head coach, but abruptly resigned on June 3, a few days after a 4–2 victory over the Cosmos. The club’s record was 7–3 at the time. [2] Team captain, Len Glover, who had been sidelined with an injury at the time, served as interim coach for one match, a loss to Rochester on June 5. [3] Retired former Rowdies captain, John Boyle, was hired on June 9. [4] Under Boyle the Rowdies record was 7–8, and though Tampa Bay made the playoffs, Boyle resigned to accept a position as the team’s permanent European scout after the season. [5] For his part, Firmani re-immerged as the Cosmos coach (just as several of his former players had predicted in early June), [2] [6] and ultimately eliminated Tampa Bay, 3–0, in the first round of the 1977 playoffs.

Honors

Four Rowdies received individual honors following the 1977 NASL season.

Competitions

Tournament of Champions

The inaugural Tournament of Champions was a friendly two-day tournament hosted by the Cosmos at Giants Stadium on April 2 and 3. Four teams participated: the Cosmos, Tampa Bay, Toronto Metros-Croatia and Victory SC of Haiti. In the opening match the Rowdies and Metros-Croatia played to a scoreless draw, before Tampa Bay won using the NASL’s new shoot-out tiebreaker, 2–1. [7] This put the Rowdies into the finals vs. the Cosmos the following day. The Rowdies lost the match, 2–1, and were runners-up. Their lone goal came from Wes McLeod with an assist by Farrukh Quraishi. [8]

Series results

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
April 2, 1977 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Toronto Metros-Croatia A0–1 (SO)7,212
April 3, 1977 Flag of the United States.svg Cosmos A2–111, 098Wes McLeod

Other friendlies

Tampa Bay hosted three international friendlies in 1977. The first was a, 1–0, losing effort on March 5 versus FC Zenit Leningrad. A crowd of more than 41,000 attended the preseason match. [9] The second international was midseason match-up versus A.S. Roma on June 14. They drew with the Italians, 1–1. Adrian Alston scored for the Rowdies on 30-yard free kick. [10] The third was played on October 13, and pitted the Rowdies against the Chinese National Team. Boris Bandov scored for Tampa Bay in the, 2–1, loss. [11]

The Rowdies also played a postseason friendly versus the Dallas Tornado in Tulsa, Oklahoma five days after the match against China. The game was meant to serve as a test balloon to see if Tulsa would support soccer. Tampa Bay won, 1–0, on an early second half goal by Mark Lindsay. The game drew 11,147 fans. Team Hawaii owner and potato chip magnate, Ward Lay soon moved his club, redubbing them the Tulsa Roughnecks. [12] [13]

Results

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
March 5, 1977 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg FC Zenit Leningrad Tampa Stadium 0–141,680
June 14, 1977 Flag of Italy.svg A.S. Roma Tampa Stadium1–19,203Adrian Alston
October 13, 1977 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China National Team Tampa Stadium1–214,675Boris Bandov
October 18, 1977 Flag of the United States.svg Dallas Tornado Skelly Stadium 0–111,147Mark Lindsay

North American Soccer League season

The Rowdies finished the regular season with 131 points placing them in 3rd place in the Eastern Division of the Atlantic Conference, and 7th out of 18 teams in the league overall. After a 7–3 start to the season, which put them at the top of the league standings, Tampa Bay limped home with a 7–9 record the rest of the way for a record of 14–12. The team’s midseason slump coincided exactly with Eddie Firmani’s abrupt resignation as head coach. The club averaged 19,491 fans per game, with three matches surpassing 21,000, one reaching 33,000 and still another topping 45,000.

Regular-season standings

W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, BP = Bonus Points, Pts= point system

6 points for a win, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each regulation goal scored up to three per game.

 -League Premiers (most points).  -Other playoff teams.
Eastern DivisionWLGFGABPPtsHomeRoad
Fort Lauderdale Strikers 19749294716111-28-5
Cosmos 151160395014010-35-8
Tampa Bay Rowdies141255454713111-23-10
Washington Diplomats 1016324932926-74-9

Regular season results

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
April 9, 1977 Dallas Tornado A2–115,212Rodney Marsh
April 16, 1977 Chicago Sting H4–033,484Derek Smethurst (2), Adrian Alston (2)
April 24, 1977 Washington Diplomats A0–19,099Rodney Marsh
April 30, 1977 Rochester Lancers H3–121,426Derek Smethurst (2), Steve Wegerle
May 7, 1977 Fort Lauderdale Strikers H1–024,753Rodney Marsh
May 13, 1977 Connecticut Bicentennials H4–012,759Derek Smethurst (2), Adrian Alston, Steve Wegerle
May 15, 1977 Connecticut Bicentennials A1–41,520Derek Smethurst (2), Adrian Alston, Mark Lindsay
May 20, 1977 Chicago Sting A3–43,233Derek Smethurst (2), Adrian Alston
May 22, 1977 Toronto Metros-Croatia A4–07,649
May 29, 1977 Cosmos H4–245,288Steve Wegerle (2), Ian Anderson, Rodney Marsh
June 5, 1977 Rochester Lancers A2–05,247
June 11, 1977 Vancouver Whitecaps H1–215,225Derek Smethurst
June 19, 1977 Cosmos A3–162,394Wes McLeod
June 22, 1977 Team Hawaii H4–3 (SO)10,220Adrian Alston, David Robb, Ian Anderson
June 25, 1977 Seattle Sounders A3–022,388
June 27, 1977 San Jose Earthquakes A1–417,612Derek Smethurst (2), Rodney Marsh, David Robb
July 1, 1977 Fort Lauderdale Strikers A3–29325Steve Wegerle, David Robb
July 6, 1977 Washington Diplomats H1–28,398Derek Smethurst
July 9, 1977 Las Vegas Quicksilvers H4–112,123Smethurst, Auguste, Marsh, Alston
July 13, 1977 Los Angeles Aztecs H4–116,133Derek Smethurst (3), David Robb
July 16, 1977 Minnesota Kicks A1–036,302
July 20, 1977 Portland Timbers H3–2 (OT)14,230David Robb, Derek Smethurst, Rodney Marsh
July 23, 1977 Toronto Metros-Croatia H2–017,473Arsène Auguste, David Robb
July 27, 1977 Portland Timbers A4–113,328David Robb
July 30, 1977 St. Louis Stars H3–2 (SO)21,876Rodney Marsh, David Robb
August 5, 1977 St. Louis Stars A1–09,158

Playoff results

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
August 10, 1977 Cosmos A3–057,828

Statistics

Season scoring

GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points [1]

PlayerGPGAPts
Derek Smethurst 2119442
Rodney Marsh 2481127
Steve Wegerle 2551125
David Robb 158117
Adrian Alston 177317
Wes McLeod 20157
Mark Lindsay 20135
Arsène Auguste 14204
Ian Anderson 11204
Len Glover 19033
Mike Connell 26011
Dennis Wit 7011
Paul Hammond 24000
Stewart Jump 22000
Kevin Eagan 21000
Farrukh Quraishi 14000
Joey Fink 13000
Boris Bandov 5000
Frantz St. Lot 5000
Winston DuBose 3000
Radomir Stefanović 2000
Alex Pringle 1000
Rino Agostinis 0000

Season goalkeeping

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses [1]

PlayerGPMinSvsGAGAAWL
Paul Hammond 242185174411.691311
Winston DuBose 31962241.8311

Player movement

In

No.Pos.PlayerTransferred fromFee/notesDateSource
5DF Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Rino Agostinis Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Vancouver Columbus noneMarch 2, 1977 [14]
5FW Flag of Scotland.svg David Robb Flag of Scotland.svg Aberdeen F.C. on loanMay 16, 1977 [15]
3MF Flag of Scotland.svg Ian Anderson Flag of Scotland.svg St. Johnstone F.C. on loanMay 16, 1977 [16]
20FW Flag of the United States.svg Boris Bandov Flag of the United States.svg Seattle Sounders no detailsJuly 24, 1977 [17]
22DF Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg Radomir Stefanović Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg HNK Rijeka arrived July 29, 1977July 19, 1977 [18]

Out

No.Pos.PlayerTransferred toFee/notesDateSource
1GK Flag of the United States.svg Arnie Mausser Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Vancouver Whitecaps sold contractApril 2, 1977 [19]
3DF Flag of England.svg Alex Pringle Flag of the United States.svg Washington Diplomats sold contractApril 10, 1977 [20]
5DF Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Rino Agostinis nonereleased from teamMay 2, 1977 [21]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Rowdies stats". Tampa Tribune. August 9, 1977. p. 2-C. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  2. 1 2 Blankenship, Ken (June 4, 1977). "Firmani's bombshell: a kick in the derriere". St. Petersburg Times. p. 5C. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  3. ↑ Henderson, Jim (June 4, 1977). "For Shaken Rowdies, The Show Must Go On". Tampa Tribune. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  4. ↑ Mudry, Richard (June 10, 1977). "Boyle, Rowdies singing old tune". Tampa Times. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  5. ↑ Henderson, Jim (October 21, 1977). "John Boyle Going 'Over There'". Tampa Tribune. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  6. ↑ Blankenship, Ken (June 5, 1977). "Shocked, leaderless Rowdies take on Lancers". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1C. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Rowdies Win; Face Cosmos". Tampa Tribune. April 3, 1977. p. 1-C. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Cosmos hold off Rowdies 2-1, Mausser sold". St. Petersburg Times. April 4, 1977. p. 1C. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  9. ↑ Henderson, Jim (March 6, 1977). "Russians Go One-Up On Rowdies". Tampa Tribune. p. 1-D. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  10. ↑ Blankenship, Ken (June 15, 1977). "Morale boost for Rowdie: Roma tied 1-1". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1C. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  11. ↑ Tierney, Mike (October 14, 1977). "Chinese nip Rowdies 2–1 for first tour win". Tampa Times. p. 1-C. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Lindsay Lifts Rowdie". St. Petersburg Times. October 19, 1977. p. 5C. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Team Hawaii makes it official: Headed for Tulsa". Honolulu Advertiser. November 16, 1977. p. C2. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Agostinis to complete Rowdies roster". St. Petersburg Times. March 2, 1977. p. 3C. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  15. ↑ Henderson, Jim (May 17, 1977). "Rowdies To Sign Two Scots, Will Host Rome Club In June". Tampa Tribune. p. 1-C. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  16. ↑ Henderson, Jim (May 17, 1977). "Rowdies To Sign Two Scots, Will Host Rome Club In June". Tampa Tribune. p. 1-C. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  17. ↑ Henderson, Jim (July 26, 1977). "The Bull To Dress On Trip". Tampa Tribune. p. 1-C. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  18. ↑ Henderson, Jim (July 30, 1977). "An Odyssey Of Red Tape Finally Ends". Tampa Tribune. p. 7-C. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  19. ↑ Henderson, Jim (April 3, 1977). "Vancouver Purchases Mausser". Tampa Tribune. p. 1-C. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  20. ↑ Henderson, Jim (April 11, 1977). "Rowdies Return Minus Pringle". Tampa Tribune. p. 1-C. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  21. ↑ Mudry, Richard (May 3, 1977). "Agostinis trimmed from Rowdies". Tampa Times. p. 5C. Retrieved April 11, 2020.