Dallas Americans was an American professional soccer club based in Dallas, Texas. The team played in the American Soccer League in 1983 and the United Soccer League in 1984 and 1985. Both leagues unofficially served as the second division of professional American soccer at the time. The team's home games were played at John Clark Stadium in Plano, Texas. [1]
The Americans were created when Bobby Moffat, who had played in Dallas for the defunct Tornado of the North American Soccer League, organized an ownership group who purchased the rights to the ASL's dormant Golden Gate Gales franchise and relocated it to Texas. The expansion side would bring the league's membership up to a very lean six teams for the 1983 season. The first Americans roster included several players who had suited up for the Tornado, including Neil Cohen, Kim Røntved, Billy Phillips, Jeff Bourne, and player-coach Wolfgang Rausch. [2] Rausch and Bourne had played for the Oklahoma City Slickers the previous year, but the Americans convinced Rausch to return to Dallas to lead the new side, and they outbid the Slickers for the chance to bring in Bourne on loan from the Wichita Wings of the MISL. Two other starters from the '82 Slickers would join Rausch and Bourne in Dallas, leading to a contentious rivalry between the two clubs. [3]
On the field, the Americans got off to a strong start but slowed down towards the end of the season on their way to a 13-12 record. [1] Bourne's 17 goals led all scorers in the league. By virtue of having the best record in the Western Division, they qualified for the playoffs, where the Pennsylvania Stoners eliminated them in a sudden death mini game after the teams both won at home to split the two-leg series. [4]
Though 1983 marked the 50th anniversary of the American Soccer League's formation, the organization had been in a period of decline for some time. The league moved out of its "home base" in the northeastern states to try expanding to the midwest and west coast in the 1970s and the southern states in the 1980s, but having such a large footprint stretched the modest resources of most clubs to the point of breaking (especially in the area of travel costs). What resulted was a league with a nearly constant turnover of teams from year to year. At the January 1984 ASL meetings, Americans owner Bill Spears and Jacksonville Tea Men owner Ingo Krieg decided that the ASL was not an atmosphere in which their teams could carry on. They worked over the weekend to lay plans for a new second division league, which they would call the United Soccer League. By April of 1984, the Rochester Flash had joined Jacksonville and Dallas in defecting from the ASL, while the Oklahoma City and Charlotte clubs re-organized and re-branded to join the USL with a fresh financial start and/or new owners. Left with no active teams, the ASL quietly folded. [5]
The USL began play on May 12th, 1984, with nine teams in three regional divisions. The Americans were in the league's Southwest Division, along with the Oklahoma City Stampede and the Houston Dynamos. [6] Most of the 1983 team returned for the 1984 season, but Jeff Bourne had suffered an injury while playing indoors with Wichita, and he would not suit up for the Americans again. The USL's Southwest Division would prove to be the league's most competitive, producing both the top seed (the Stampede) and both wild card teams (Dallas and Houston) for the playoff tournament. The Americans' 14-10 record was one game better than Houston's but the league had a complicated standings points system that placed Houston two points ahead of Dallas in the final ranking. That earned the Dynamos the right to host the wild card play-in game, and they defeated Dallas 2-1 to end the Americans' season on August 18th. [7]
By the following winter, professional outdoor soccer in the U.S. was in dire straits at all levels. The NASL had shrunk from twenty-four teams in 1980 to nine in 1984, and only a few of those teams were planning to return for 1985. The USL's teams found that revenues had not kept up with expenses in their first season despite the fact that the league was designed to be fiscally responsible through measures such as tight salary caps and schedules heavy on regional matchups to reduce travel costs. The last-ditch option of merging the NASL and USL in order to bolster the USL teams' finances and the give the last few interested NASL teams somewhere to play was discussed, but these discussions did not lead to an agreement and were called off on March 5th. Almost immediately the NASL cancelled its 1985 season, and five USL clubs folded while Houston withdrew to play independently. [8] [5]
Dallas elected to soldier on in the USL despite the league only having three other teams: the South Florida Sun, the Tulsa Tornado's (who had moved from Oklahoma City and re-branded again) and the expansion El Paso/Juarez Gamecocks. None of the teams were on solid financial footing, and the situation became even more difficult when the league's commissioner resigned in April. To buy some time to attract more teams to join the league for the '85 season's second half (a hope that would prove fruitless), the league re-arranged the schedule to have teams play each other twice each in a round-robin format to compete for the "USL Cup." [5] Play began in May, and signs of trouble were popping up all around. The Tornado's players and coaches, who had not been paid for several weeks, refused to participate in an exhibition game against the Americans on June 6th in Tulsa, and they did not travel to Dallas for a USL Cup game on June 8th. [9] Dallas was having its own problems making payroll, and team management was forced to offer players shares of stock in the team in lieu of pay. [2] The original USL Cup format stated that the top two teams in the standings after the six round-robin games would face off for the Cup Championship, which would have pitted Dallas (3-3) against South Florida (4-2). However, the league scrapped plans for the championship round and declared the Sun the cup winners when they clinched the best record by defeating Tulsa on June 15th (no physical trophy was on hand to present to the Cup winners). One week later, on June 22nd, the Americans travelled to Fort Lauderdale to play the Sun in the season's first "regular season" game. The 3-1 loss to the Sun would be the only game the USL would be able to stage in its second half. The Tornado's/Gamecocks match scheduled for later the same night was cancelled due to Tulsa's ongoing issues with team payroll and stadium rent. A few days later, creditors foreclosed on the bankrupt league and locked officials out of their offices. The USL voted to suspend play on June 25th, and the Dallas Americans would be disbanded shortly afterwards. [5] [2]
| Year | Division | League | Reg. Season | Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | 2 | ASL | 1st, Western | Semifinals | Did not enter |
| 1984 | N/A | USL | 3rd, Southwest | Wild Card | Did not enter |
| 1985 | N/A | USL | 2nd | No playoff | Did not enter |
| Place | 1985 League Cup | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | % | Avg. Att. [10] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Florida Sun | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 8 | .667 | 2,195 |
| 2 | Dallas Americans | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 9 | .500 | 2,400 |
| 3 | Tulsa Tornado's | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | .500 | 500 |
| 4 | El Paso/Juarez Gamecocks | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 15 | .333 | 1,430 |
| USL Rank | Scorer | GP | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2(tie) | Hassan Nazari | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Wolfgang Rausch | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 9 | Tom Fazekas | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
ASL Top Goal Scorer
ASL Top Points Scorer
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 is considered 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 setting up Major League Soccer (MLS) in 1996.
Fort Lauderdale/South Florida Sun was a professional U.S. soccer team which played two seasons in the United Soccer League.
The United Soccer League was a professional soccer league in the United States in 1984 and 1985.
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 Jacksonville Tea Men were a soccer team based in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Overall, the Tea Men played a total of four years in Jacksonville, first in the major league-level North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1980–1982, then in the lower level American Soccer League in 1983 and United Soccer League in 1984. The NASL incarnation of the club was Jacksonville's first professional soccer team, and the first major league-level sport franchise ever based in the city.
The Carolina Lightnin' was a professional American soccer club based in Charlotte, North Carolina that was a member of the American Soccer League from 1981 to 83. After the Lightnin' folded, much of the front office staff and some of the players joined a new club called the Charlotte Gold that played in the United Soccer League in 1984. Both the Lightnin' and the Gold played home matches at American Legion Memorial Stadium.
The Oklahoma City Slickers was the name given to two different American soccer clubs based in Oklahoma City. The first team competed in the second American Soccer League in 1982 and 1983. The club was re-organized and re-branded in 1984 as the Oklahoma City Stampede and again in 1985 as the Tulsa Tornado's to play in the short-lived United Soccer League. The second Oklahoma City Slickers competed in the USISL from 1993 to 1996. Home games were played at historical Taft Stadium in Oklahoma City.
The Rochester Flash was an American soccer club based in Rochester, New York, that was a member of the American Soccer League from 1981-82 and of the United Soccer League in 1984.
Houston Dynamos was a U.S. soccer team that existed in various forms from 1983 to 1991. In 1991, the team's owners changed the name to Houston International, but the team lasted only through the 1992 season before folding. The Dynamos were founded by Pete Kane and John M Gaughan. The Dynamos were founded with the intention of a continued building of the sport of soccer in Houston Texas. The Dynamos were the first team to give contracts to its players based on an entire year not on a season. The Houston Dynamos players year round went to parks, schools and events promoting the sport of soccer. In 1985 the Dynamos brought Pele to Houston creating great interest in the sport and spreading goodwill.
New York Nationals were a professional soccer team which played a single season in 1984 with the United Soccer League. An earlier team also called the New York Nationals played in the American Soccer League during the 1920s.
Jeffrey Albert Bourne was an English footballer who played as a striker. Born in Linton, Derbyshire, he spent most of his early career in the lower English divisions before moving to the United States where he played six seasons in the North American Soccer League, two in the second division American Soccer League. He led the ASL in scoring in 1983.
John Dolinsky is a retired German-American soccer player who played professionally in the Major Indoor Soccer League, American Soccer League, United Soccer League and American Indoor Soccer Association. He also coached in the American Indoor Soccer Association where he was the 1989 Coach of the Year.
Buffalo Storm were an American professional soccer team. They played for one season (1984) in the United Soccer League, with home games at All-High Stadium.
The Tulsa Tornado's were a professional outdoor soccer team from Tulsa, Oklahoma. They played in the 2nd division United Soccer League during the partially completed 1985 season.
The 1984 USL season was the United Soccer League's first and only full season.
The 1985 USL season was the United Soccer League's second and final season. The season was abruptly canceled after the pre-season League Cup and one regular season game.
Bill Sautter is a retired American soccer player who played professionally in the North American Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League, American Soccer League and United Soccer League.
Rudy Pena is a retired American soccer player who played professionally in the North American Soccer League, American Soccer League and United Soccer League.
Jim Millnder is a retired American soccer player and coach who played professionally in the North American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League, American Soccer League and United Soccer League. He coached collegiate soccer for twenty-nine years.
Wolfgang Rausch is a German former professional footballer who played as a defender. He made a total of 257 appearances in the Bundesliga during his playing career.
 | This article about a soccer club from Texas is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
