1977 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season

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Tampa Bay Rowdies
1977 indoor season
OwnerUnited States George W. Strawbridge, Jr.
General managerUnited States Beau Rodgers
ManagerItaly Eddie Firmani
StadiumBayfront Center
Top goalscorerLeague:
All:
South Africa Derek Smethurst (5 goals)
Highest home attendance6,354
(March 9 vs. Zenit)
Lowest home attendance5,016
(Feb. 27 vs. Strikers)
Average home league attendance5,685
← 1976
1978 →

The 1977 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season was the third indoor season of the club's existence.

Overview[edit]

Despite much lobbying from Rowdies owner, George W. Strawbridge, Jr., the North American Soccer League voted not to sanction an indoor season or tournament in 1977.[1][2] As such, Tampa Bay played only two indoor matches that year.[3] The first one versus the Fort Lauderdale Strikers was played on February 27.[4][5] This marked the first meeting of what would soon become one of the most enduring rivalries in North American soccer, the Florida Derby. The Rowdies' other match was an international friendly against Zenit Leningrad on March 9.[6] At the time Zenit was the reigning champion of the Soviet indoor league.[7] Likewise, the Rowdies were the defending NASL indoor champs. Both matches were played at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Originally Tampa Bay had planned on playing FC Dynamo Moscow, but the match was canceled because of government delays in the Soviet Union.[8] The Rowdies were also the first NASL side to ever be invited to the Wembley Indoor Invitational in mid June.[9] The ten-team tournament featured five English clubs, plus other top squads from Europe. Although they originally planned to attend the London event, ultimately the tournament was canceled and the Rowdies scheduled an outdoor international friendly in Tampa versus A.S. Roma instead.[10][11][12]

Longterm cultural significance[edit]

Not only was this brief indoor season the flash-point for one of the longest running professional soccer derbies in North America as previously mentioned, but it was significant for another reason. When Ed Tepper approached Earl Foreman about starting a fully professional indoor-only soccer league, he used a videotape of the 1977 Rowdies–Zenit Leningrad match[13] to show not only the game's potential, but also the crowd's enthusiastic responses to the end-to-end action. By October 1977 the pair announced the formation of the Major Indoor Soccer League.[14][15] That league would grow to become the sport's standard bearer for many years, even gaining a regular slot in the ESPN programming line up, before finally folding in 1992. Today, though most popular in North America, indoor soccer is played throughout the world, with its own FIFA-like governing body. The World Minifootball Federation, based in the Czech Republic, is the international federation dedicated to promoting the sport.

Club[edit]

Roster[edit]

No. Position Player Nation
1 GK Paul Hammond  England
1 GK Arnie Mausser  United States
1 GK Winston DuBose  United States
2 DF Farrukh Quraishi  England
3 DF Alex Pringle (capt.)  Scotland
4 DF Arsène Auguste  Haiti
5 DF Rino Agostinis  Canada
6 DF Mike Connell  South Africa
7 MF Steve Wegerle  South Africa
8 MF Wes McLeod  Canada
9 FW Adrian Alston  Australia
10 FW Rodney Marsh  England
11 FW Len Glover  England
12 FW Derek Smethurst  South Africa
14 FW Joey Fink  United States
15 MF Mark Lindsay  England
16 DF Dennis Wit  United States
17 FW Kevin Eagan  United States
19 DF Frantz St. Lot  United States

Management and technical staff[edit]

  • United States George Strawbridge, Jr., owner
  • United States Beau Rogers, general manager
  • Italy Eddie Firmani, head coach
  • United States Chas Serednesky, business manager
  • Portugal Francisco Marcos, director of public relations
  • United States Alfredo Beronda, equipment manager

Competitions[edit]

Results summaries[edit]

Match reports[edit]

February 27, 1977 1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 9–8 Fort Lauderdale Strikers St. Petersburg, Florida
8:00 p.m. (EST) Lindsay 4:21' (Wegerle)
Smethurst 33:13'
Smethurst 34:04' (Alston)
Quraishi 41:34' (Smethurst)
Smethurst 41:57' (Wegerle)
Wegerle 48:29'
Smethurst 49:30' (Wegerle)
Wegerle 50:41'
Alston 51:47' (Smethurst)		 Report Mulroy 12:07' (Nanchoff, Sharp)
Sharp 12:27'
Nanchoff 26:40' (Chadwick)
Ceballos 44:20' (Sharp)
Chadwick 47:40' (Hamlyn, Sharp)
Sharp 50:41'
Sharp 58:04'
Hamlyn 59:57'		 Stadium: Bayfront Center
Attendance: 5,016
Referee: Sam Hornich
March 9, 1977 2 Int’l friendly Tampa Bay Rowdies 7–8 Zenit Leningrad St. Petersburg, Florida
8:00 p.m. (EST) Wegerle 6:51' (Connell)
Marsh 13:32'
Marsh 14:33' (Wit, Quraishi)
Smethurst 15:43' (Quraishi)
Glover 31:13'
Marsh 33:02' (Alston)
Marsh 47:25' (Pringle)		 Report 1
Report 2		 Lokhov 3:47' (Davydov)
Jakimtsev 10:42', 42:26'
Orlov 17:11' (Golubev, Jakimtsev)
Rasputin 21:48'
Davydov 32:31' (Markin)
Jakimtsev 42:26'
Lokhov 56:11'
Golubev 56:47'		 Stadium: Bayfront Center
Attendance: 6,354
Referee: Rene Imar (USA)

Statistics[edit]

G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points

Player G A Pts
Derek Smethurst 5 2 12
Steve Wegerle 3 3 9
Rodney Marsh 4 0 8
Adrian Alston 1 2 4
Farrukh Quraishi 1 2 4
Len Glover 1 0 2
Mark Lindsay 1 0 2
Dennis Wit 0 1 1
Alex Pringle 0 1 1
Mike Connell 0 1 1
Rino Agostinis 0 0 0

Player movement[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Chick, Bob (March 29, 1976). "Indoor Kicks May Go Awry". Evening Independent. p. 1-C. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  2. ^ Martz, Ron (March 12, 1977). "Indoor soccer season approved". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1C. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  3. ^ "Rowdies Vs. Strikers In Exhibition Tonight". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. February 27, 1977. p. 3-D. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  4. ^ Meyer, John (February 28, 1977). "Rowdies: Bombs Away!". Evening Independent. p. 1-C. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  5. ^ Blankenship, Ken (February 28, 1977). "Smethurst-led Rowdies clip Strikers 9–8". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1C. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  6. ^ Blankenship, Ken (March 9, 1977). "Rowdies, Zenit roar into Bayfront". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1C. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  7. ^ Meyer, John (March 10, 1977). "Unfit To Beat The Russians". Evening Independent. p. 1-C. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  8. ^ Mudry, Richard (January 6, 1977). "Russians to provide Rowdies biggest test". The Tampa Times. p. 2-C. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
  9. ^ Mudry, Richard (January 5, 1977). "TBAYSO set for return to action". The Tampa Times. p. 5-C. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  10. ^ Henderson, Jim (February 24, 1977). "Rowdies' Gate May Decide Indoor Future". Tampa Tribune. p. 4-C. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
  11. ^ "Rowdies Notes". Tampa Tribune. March 23, 1977. p. 3-C. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  12. ^ Henderson, Jim (May 17, 1977). "Rowdies To Sign Two Scots, Will Host Rome Club In June". Tampa Tribune. p. 1-C. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
  13. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Indoor Soccer: Tampa Bay Rowdies vs. Zenit Leningrad 3/9/1977. YouTube.
  14. ^ "The Year in American Soccer - 1978". Archived from the original on February 17, 2015. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  15. ^ "NASL Indoor Loop Boasts Eight Teams". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. November 11, 1977. p. 3-D. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
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