"We’re the Ramblin’ Rogues from Memphis, the biggest kick in town!"– Rogues fight song.
In the mid-1970s, Harry T. Mangurian, Jr. and Beau Rogers joined forces to establish a new North American Soccer League (NASL) franchise. Mangurian owned a horse racing track in Florida, and Rogers was part-owner and general manager of the Tampa Bay Rowdies. As the two men searched for a city to serve as home for their new team, they looked at several locations in the southern U.S.– including New Orleans, Houston, Nashville and Atlanta– before settling on Memphis, Tennessee.[1] Next, they decided to name the team the "Rogues" in part as an allusion to the Rowdies, as well as for a desire to have an elephant mascot (a "Rogue" elephant).
The team made its first mistake when it hired Malcolm Allison as its first coach. Allison came from Turkish powerhouse Galatasaray but his time in Memphis would be very short. Allison had achieved much controversy during his time in England, and when he had failed to sign a sufficient number of players for the inaugural season, he was dismissed without having coached a match and replaced by ex-Chelsea star Eddie McCreadie. The club finished the 1978 season in third place in its division and did not make the playoffs. Attendance averaged 8,708 a match, 17th in the 24-team league.
The second season, 1979, was disrupted by a players' strike which forced McCreadie out of retirement for a time. The team did worse on the pitch, finishing last, and worse at the box office, with 7,137 a match, with three teams doing worse.
The poor gates resulted in Mangurian and Rogers selling the team to Avron Fogelman in 1980. Fogelman owned a Memphis minor league baseball team and later became a part owner of the Kansas City Royals. Though attendance went up in 1980 to 9,864 a match, this was still 17th in the league and the team were again last in their division, though McCreadie's old Chelsea mate Charlie Cooke had taken over as coach.
The Rogues' last game ever came at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium against the Houston Hurricane. The Rogues won, 6–1. Tony Field scored the final goal in Memphis Rogues history. He beat the goalkeeper and walked the ball into the net. When he arrived at the goal line, he got down on his knees and headed the ball into the net. More skeptical fans and that the Rogues were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs and the Hurricane only need one goal to qualify, raised an eyebrow at the result. In the 1980 NASL goals of the year video,[2] you[who?] can clearly see the Hurricanes standing still, allowing Field to give the fans one last show.[3]
In 1981, Fogelman cut his losses and sold the Rogues to Nelson Skalbania, a Canadian businessman who moved the team to Calgary, Alberta. Skalbania renamed the team the Calgary Boomers for the 1981, but the team lasted only one year in Calgary before folding.
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 Calgary Boomers were a Canadian soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1980–81 Indoor and 1981 outdoor seasons. The team was based in Calgary and played their home games at Stampede Corral during the indoor season and McMahon Stadium for outdoor matches. Originally founded as the Memphis Rogues, the team relocated to Calgary when it was purchased by Nelson Skalbania after the 1980 season. After loses of over $2 million during its operations, the team was placed into receivership and its assets sold.
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 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.
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.
Steve Wegerle is a South African former professional soccer player who played as a winger.
Paul Anthony Cannell is an English former footballer, who played as a forward for Newcastle United between 1972 and 1978. He made 62 appearances and scored 18 goals, before moving to the United States. Cannell was a substitute for the 1976 League Cup Final, which Newcastle lost 2–1 to Manchester City.
Sebastião Miranda da Silva Filho, usually called Mirandinha, is a Brazilian former footballer who played as a forward. At international level, he was included in the Brazilian squad for the 1974 FIFA World Cup.
The 1978 North American Soccer League season was the 66th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer, the 11th with a national first-division league, in the United States and Canada.
Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1981. This was the 14th season of the NASL.
Peter Thomas Anderson is an English former football midfielder and manager.
Mike Stankovic is a retired Serbian-American soccer defender who played professionally in the North American Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League and National Professional Soccer League.
Dave Huson is a retired footballer from Jersey who played professionally in the North American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League.
The 1979–80 season was the North American Soccer League's first ever full indoor soccer season with playoffs. It began in November 1979, and the championship occurred in March 1980.
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.
Frantz St. Lot or Frantz St-Lot is a Haitian-born, American former soccer player that played professionally in the United States as a defender.
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.
The 1978 NASL Skelly Invitational was a four-team indoor soccer tournament held in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the Tulsa Assembly Center on the first weekend of March 1979.
The 1980–81 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season was the seventh indoor season of the club's existence.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
