George Strawbridge Jr. | |
---|---|
Owner of the Buffalo Sabres | |
In office 1970–1998 | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | John Rigas |
Owner of the Tampa Bay Rowdies | |
In office 1974–1983 ServingwithBeau Rogers,IV | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Stella Thayer,Bob Blanchard &Dick Corbett |
Personal details | |
Born | Philadelphia,Pennsylvania,US | October 10,1937
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Nina Gill Stewart (divorced) |
Children | 3 |
Residence(s) | Cochranville,Pennsylvania |
Education | Trinity College,University of Pennsylvania |
Occupation | Educator,historian,investor,sportsman |
George W. Strawbridge Jr. (born October 10,1937) is an American educator,historian,investor,sportsman and philanthropist.
Born in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania,he was the son of Margaret ("Peggy") Dorrance and the stockbroker George W. Strawbridge Sr. He is a great grandson of William Weightman through his grandmother Louisa Weightman Strawbridge,who was Weightman's daughter and wife of John Strawbridge. He studied at Trinity College in Hartford,Connecticut,where he earned a bachelor's degree. He furthered his studies at the University of Pennsylvania,where he specialized in Latin American history and politics,earning a master's degree and his doctorate. For a time,Strawbridge was an adjunct professor at Widener University in Chester,Pennsylvania,where he remains a member of its board of trustees.
George Strawbridge Jr.'s mother was the daughter of Dr. John Thompson Dorrance,owner of the Campbell Soup Company. On her father's death,she inherited a significant interest in the company. George Strawbridge Jr. was a member of the board of directors of the Campbell Soup Company from 1988 to 2009, [1] filling the vacancy left by his ailing father,who died in 1990. He served as a member of the company's audit committee and a member of the finance &corporate development committee.
Strawbridge was the co-owner,then majority owner of the Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer franchise of the old North American Soccer League from the team's founding in July 1974 [2] until he and later partners Lamar Hunt and Bill McNutt sold the club after the 1983 season to investors Stella Thayer,Bob Blanchard and Dick &Cornelia Corbett. [3] The team would win the NASL Soccer Bowl championship for him in their first season and finish as runners-up in both 1978 and 1979. His teams also had great success in the league's indoor circuit,thrice winning titles (1976,1979-80 and 1983) and twice runners-up (1975 and 1981–82).
It was his long-held belief that the best way to grow the sport's fan appeal,as well as develop young American talent was through the fast-paced,higher-scoring indoor game,rather than overspending on foreign talent. [4] [5] He repeatedly lobbied the other owners to consider playing a full indoor regular season instead of just the two-tiered tournaments of 1975 and 1976. As early as a 1975 owners meeting,he brought in public relations experts to show his peers what indoor's full potential was. [6] Indeed,in 1976,1977 [7] and 1978 other owners were poised to follow his lead,only to have various obstacles pull the plug on "his" winter season. [8] [9] [10] Undaunted,Strawbridge and a few other owners pressed on,using indoor friendlies as part of their training and build up to the outdoor season. [11] In the meantime the rival Major Indoor Soccer League set up shop in 1977 and began play in 1978. [12] Just as Strawbridge predicted,the MISL games drew thousands of new fans and young American talent almost from the start. Now fearing that they were missing an opportunity,enough owners acquiesced and in November 1979 the first full NASL indoor season finally commenced. [13] [14] By season's end on March 2,1980 it was only fitting that NASL indoor soccer's original champion,George Strawbridge,would see his Rowdies crowned as champions of the league's first full indoor season. [15] [16]
George Strawbridge Jr. joined the board of directors of the Delaware Trust Company in December 1978. In May 1987 Delaware Trust was taken over by Meridian Bancorp Inc.,at the time Pennsylvania's fifth-largest bank holding company. [17] In the fall of 1995,CoreStates Financial Corporation acquired Meridian Bancorp for $3.2 billion,and Strawbridge became the largest individual shareholder in Corestates Financial Corporation and was named to its board of directors. In April 1998,CoreStates Financial Corporation merged with First Union Corporation in the largest merger at the time in the history of American banking. Later,First Union merged with Wachovia Corporation,which was later acquired by Wells Fargo Bank during the 2008 banking crisis and dismantled in 2011.
Strawbridge was an active shareholder and director of the Buffalo Sabres NHL ice hockey club and a member of the team's executive committee for more than thirty years. In 2004,he was inducted in the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame. [18] According to WGR 550 sports radio in Buffalo,New York,"In the 1990s,Strawbridge expanded revenue streams and played a leading role in producing new capital for the franchise. When illness and other factors forced the Knox family to limit their involvement,it was Strawbridge's commitment to Buffalo hockey that helped keep the Sabres alive."
Strawbridge acquired acreage in the Brandywine Valley in southeastern Pennsylvania and established Augustin Stable as his breeding and racing operation for both steeplechase and flat racing. Now divorced,he makes his home in Cochranville near his Derry Meeting Farm. Active in the National Steeplechase Association (NSA),Strawbridge has served as its president,chairman and chairman emeritus and is a member of the board of directors of the National Steeplechase Museum in Camden,South Carolina. [19] The all-time leading money-winning steeplechase owner in the United States,in 1979 the NSA honored him with their F. Ambrose Clark Award given to someone "who has done the most to promote,improve and encourage the growth of steeplechasing in America". In 2010 Augustin Stable received the Keeneland Mark of Distinction for their contribution to Keeneland and the Thoroughbred industry. [20]
Since 1976,Strawbridge has been a member of The Jockey Club and along with Ogden Mills Phipps,is one of only two Americans to be members of the Jockey Club of Canada. Strawbridge also sits on the board of trustees of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. He is also a former owner of Tybridge Farm in Chesapeake City,Maryland.
His Thoroughbreds compete in flat racing across North America and in Europe. He bred many of the horses that he raced. His notable runners includes:
For seven consecutive years [2007 –2013] George Strawbridge Jr.’s Augustin Stable finished as the leading overall breeder of Pennsylvania-bred horses. [22] For 2013 horses bred by his operation earned over $1,804,000. Leading runners of 2013 bred by Strawbridge include Grade 3 winner Kitten's Point and Irish stakes-placed Sir Ector.
Strawbridge is a first cousin to Charlotte C. Weber,the daughter of Ethel M. Dorrance and her husband Tristram Coffin Colket. Weber is also involved in Thoroughbred breeding and racing as the owner of the prominent Live Oak Stud in Ocala,Florida. [23]
Strawbridge and his former wife support a variety of causes including environmental,medical and cultural institutions. He gave $2 million to create the Margaret Dorrance Strawbridge Foundation Translational Cancer Research Endowment at the Lucille P. Markey Cancer Center in Lexington,Kentucky. [24]
He is also a member of the board of trustees of the Winterthur Museum near Greenville,Delaware.
The Memphis Rogues were a professional soccer team in the former North American Soccer League. They operated in the 1978,1979,and 1980 seasons and played their home games in Memphis' Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. They also played indoor soccer at the Mid-South Coliseum during the 1979–80 season.
The Tampa Bay Rowdies were an American professional soccer team based in Tampa,Florida,that competed in the original North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1975 to 1984. They enjoyed broad popular support in the Tampa Bay area until the NASL folded in 1984,after which the team played in various minor indoor and outdoor leagues before finally folding on January 31,1994. The Rowdies played nearly all of their outdoor home games at Tampa Stadium and nearly all of their indoor games at the Bayfront Center Arena in nearby St. Petersburg,Florida. Although San Diego played indoors until 1996,the Rowdies were the last surviving NASL franchise that played outdoor soccer on a regular basis.
Flower Alley is an American Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. Winner of the Travers Stakes during his racing career,he is best known as the sire of 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner I'll Have Another.
Pocahontas (1837–1870) was an English Thoroughbred racehorse and the dam of three sires who had a great influence on the breed. Although mares are not generally considered to be as influential as sires,Thoroughbred Heritage refers to Pocahontas as "one of the most influential Thoroughbreds of all time,male or female."
Azeri is an American Hall of Fame champion thoroughbred racehorse who was 2002 US Horse of the Year and Champion Older Female from 2002 to 2004.
Lyphard was an American-bred,French-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and an important sire.
Jonathan E. Sheppard was an English Hall of Fame trainer in American Thoroughbred horse racing. He was the winningest trainer in American steeplechase racing history with 1,242 victories and led with the most U.S. steeplechase wins per year a record 26 times between 1972 and his retirement in 2020.
Caerleon was an American-bred,Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who won Group One races in France and Great Britain. He was twice champion sire in Great Britain and Ireland. Bred by Seth Hancock at his famous Claiborne Farm in Kentucky,he was a son of the 1970 British Triple Crown winner Nijinsky. His dam was Foreseer,a daughter of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee,Round Table.
Blame is a retired American champion Thoroughbred racehorse,a winner of nine races in 13 starts including the prestigious Breeders' Cup Classic.
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.
Prospectors Delite was a Kentucky-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. Out of a Hoist the Flag mare,Up the Flagpole,and the daughter of one of the century's greatest sires,Mr. Prospector,she was a Grade 1 winner and the 2003 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year.
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.
The 1979 NASL Budweiser Indoor Soccer Invitational was a four-team indoor soccer tournament held at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg,Florida on the final weekend of January 1979.
The 1977 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season was the third indoor season of the club's existence.
The 1978 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season was the fourth indoor season of the club's existence.
The 1979 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season was the fifth indoor season of the club's existence.
The 1979–80 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season was the sixth indoor season of the club's existence.
Masaka was an Irish-bred,British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She was one of the best fillies of her generation in Europe in 1947 when she won three races including the Queen Mary Stakes and the July Stakes. In the following year she became increasingly temperamental and refused to start on more than one occasion but did show top class form over middle distances,winning the Epsom Oaks and the Irish Oaks.
The 1983 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season was the ninth indoor season of the team's existence. The Rowdies captured the Indoor Grand Prix title. Although they would play for another 10 years,including two more indoors in 1983–84 and 1986–87,this would be the final trophy won by the original club.
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