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1977 Tampa Bay Rowdies season

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Tampa Bay Rowdies
1977 season
OwnerUnited States George W. Strawbridge, Jr.
General managerUnited States Beau Rodgers
Head coachItaly Eddie Firmani (resigned July 3)
England Len Glover (interim)
Scotland John Boyle (hired July 9)
StadiumTampa Stadium
NASLDivision: 3rd
Playoffs: First round
U.S. Open CupDid not enter
Top goalscorerSouth Africa 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.

Overview

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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

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Roster

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

Team management

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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

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Four Rowdies received individual honors following the 1977 NASL season.

Competitions

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Tournament of Champions

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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

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Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
April 2, 1977 Canada Toronto Metros-Croatia A 0–1 (SO) 7,212
April 3, 1977 United States Cosmos A 2–1 11, 098 Wes McLeod

Other friendlies

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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

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Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
March 5, 1977 Soviet Union FC Zenit Leningrad Tampa Stadium 0–1 41,680
June 14, 1977 Italy A.S. Roma Tampa Stadium 1–1 9,203 Adrian Alston
October 13, 1977 China China National Team Tampa Stadium 1–2 14,675 Boris Bandov
October 18, 1977 United States Dallas Tornado Skelly Stadium 0–1 11,147 Mark Lindsay

North American Soccer League season

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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

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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 Division W L GF GA BP Pts Home Road
Fort Lauderdale Strikers 19 7 49 29 47 161 11-2 8-5
Cosmos 15 11 60 39 50 140 10-3 5-8
Tampa Bay Rowdies 14 12 55 45 47 131 11-2 3-10
Washington Diplomats 10 16 32 49 32 92 6-7 4-9

Regular season results

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Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
April 9, 1977 Dallas Tornado A 2–1 15,212 Rodney Marsh
April 16, 1977 Chicago Sting H 4–0 33,484 Derek Smethurst (2), Adrian Alston (2)
April 24, 1977 Washington Diplomats A 0–1 9,099 Rodney Marsh
April 30, 1977 Rochester Lancers H 3–1 21,426 Derek Smethurst (2), Steve Wegerle
May 7, 1977 Fort Lauderdale Strikers H 1–0 24,753 Rodney Marsh
May 13, 1977 Connecticut Bicentennials H 4–0 12,759 Derek Smethurst (2), Adrian Alston, Steve Wegerle
May 15, 1977 Connecticut Bicentennials A 1–4 1,520 Derek Smethurst (2), Adrian Alston, Mark Lindsay
May 20, 1977 Chicago Sting A 3–4 3,233 Derek Smethurst (2), Adrian Alston
May 22, 1977 Toronto Metros-Croatia A 4–0 7,649
May 29, 1977 Cosmos H 4–2 45,288 Steve Wegerle (2), Ian Anderson, Rodney Marsh
June 5, 1977 Rochester Lancers A 2–0 5,247
June 11, 1977 Vancouver Whitecaps H 1–2 15,225 Derek Smethurst
June 19, 1977 Cosmos A 3–1 62,394 Wes McLeod
June 22, 1977 Team Hawaii H 4–3 (SO) 10,220 Adrian Alston, David Robb, Ian Anderson
June 25, 1977 Seattle Sounders A 3–0 22,388
June 27, 1977 San Jose Earthquakes A 1–4 17,612 Derek Smethurst (2), Rodney Marsh, David Robb
July 1, 1977 Fort Lauderdale Strikers A 3–2 9325 Steve Wegerle, David Robb
July 6, 1977 Washington Diplomats H 1–2 8,398 Derek Smethurst
July 9, 1977 Las Vegas Quicksilvers H 4–1 12,123 Smethurst, Auguste, Marsh, Alston
July 13, 1977 Los Angeles Aztecs H 4–1 16,133 Derek Smethurst (3), David Robb
July 16, 1977 Minnesota Kicks A 1–0 36,302
July 20, 1977 Portland Timbers H 3–2 (OT) 14,230 David Robb, Derek Smethurst, Rodney Marsh
July 23, 1977 Toronto Metros-Croatia H 2–0 17,473 Arsène Auguste, David Robb
July 27, 1977 Portland Timbers A 4–1 13,328 David Robb
July 30, 1977 St. Louis Stars H 3–2 (SO) 21,876 Rodney Marsh, David Robb
August 5, 1977 St. Louis Stars A 1–0 9,158

Playoff results

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Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
August 10, 1977 Cosmos A 3–0 57,828

Statistics

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Season scoring

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

Player GP G A Pts
Derek Smethurst 21 19 4 42
Rodney Marsh 24 8 11 27
Steve Wegerle 25 5 11 25
David Robb 15 8 1 17
Adrian Alston 17 7 3 17
Wes McLeod 20 1 5 7
Mark Lindsay 20 1 3 5
Arsène Auguste 14 2 0 4
Ian Anderson 11 2 0 4
Len Glover 19 0 3 3
Mike Connell 26 0 1 1
Dennis Wit 7 0 1 1
Paul Hammond 24 0 0 0
Stewart Jump 22 0 0 0
Kevin Eagan 21 0 0 0
Farrukh Quraishi 14 0 0 0
Joey Fink 13 0 0 0
Boris Bandov 5 0 0 0
Frantz St. Lot 5 0 0 0
Winston DuBose 3 0 0 0
Radomir Stefanović 2 0 0 0
Alex Pringle 1 0 0 0
Rino Agostinis 0 0 0 0

Season goalkeeping

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

Player GP Min Svs GA GAA W L
Paul Hammond 24 2185 174 41 1.69 13 11
Winston DuBose 3 196 22 4 1.83 1 1

Player movement

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In

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No. Pos. Player Transferred from Fee/notes Date Source
5 DF Canada Rino Agostinis Canada Vancouver Columbus none March 2, 1977 [14]
5 FW Scotland David Robb Scotland Aberdeen F.C. on loan May 16, 1977 [15]
3 MF Scotland Ian Anderson Scotland St. Johnstone F.C. on loan May 16, 1977 [16]
20 FW United States Boris Bandov United States Seattle Sounders no details July 24, 1977 [17]
22 DF Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Radomir Stefanović Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia HNK Rijeka arrived July 29, 1977 July 19, 1977 [18]

Out

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No. Pos. Player Transferred to Fee/notes Date Source
1 GK United States Arnie Mausser Canada Vancouver Whitecaps sold contract April 2, 1977 [19]
3 DF England Alex Pringle United States Washington Diplomats sold contract April 10, 1977 [20]
5 DF Canada Rino Agostinis none released from team May 2, 1977 [21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Rowdies stats". Tampa Tribune. August 9, 1977. p. 2-C. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  2. ^ a b 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.
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